


Exposure

by beir, glaciya, SociallyAwkwardFox



Category: Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Android Tony Stark, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Cyborg Bucky Barnes, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-16 16:56:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16499189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beir/pseuds/beir, https://archiveofourown.org/users/glaciya/pseuds/glaciya, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SociallyAwkwardFox/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: Everyone knew the name Tony Stark. They mourned his name. Those that put the hit on him would fear his name. No longer being human wouldn't stop him.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This work was done for the WinterIron Reverse Bang 2018. Beautiful art done by Beir can be found in Part 3 and 4. A big thank you to my beta Glaciya (Pisces314)!

He never believed the world to be a perfect place. Even as a child, he knew it to be too corrupt for that to be possible. Humans are inherently flawed. It's simply the nature of things. People were greedy, selfish, and cruel. They manipulate and abuse others to get what they want with no regard for anything that might be in their way. Cities could be leveled and those responsible wouldn’t care as long as they could build their empires on the ashes.

Technology allowed that nature to stay hidden in plain sight as those who sought to control people beneath them grew more powerful. As technology advanced, the disparity between those that could enjoy it and those that couldn't grew. While the rich enjoyed life and luxury, most struggled to survive in the downtrodden sectors of the planet. Even the sectors housing the middle class looked rundown and outdated compared to the flashy high rises the elite called home. Those that sought to change that always had a way of disappearing.

Always.

Some disappeared so subtlety that most didn’t even notice they were gone, or the masses never cared enough about them in the first place. Hell, he’d been just as blind to it all, until Ho Yinsen went from being his favorite person to listen to with his morning coffee to nothing more than a memory. It hadn’t been a secret Yinsen advocated for giving workers more rights and fair pay, but someone didn’t agree with those views. He went from hosting a well thought out morning show on one of the few channels of substance to-most likely-dead in a ditch somewhere.

“Sir, the scan finished. Hydra presence in the area located. The closest one is a research facility. I have sent you the coordinates.”

“Thanks, J. Time to get ready.”

“Can I suggest taking the laser? It could come in handy in a difficult situation.”

“Wonderful suggestion.” He grabbed the small device he made on a whim, then placed it in the bag with the rest of his weaponry. “You know what to do if something goes wrong.”

“Send the important documents concerning their operation to Pepper and Rhodey, then wipe all data from the servers. I am to remain in standby mode to make sure nothing is accessed that can trace any information to others.”

“Got it in one. Watch over the place while I’m gone.”

“What else would I do?”

“Don’t ever lose the sass.”

“It would be impossible to do so without altering my code. The sass is engrained in my programming. Removing it would be more trouble than it is worth.”

“Can’t imagine why that would be the case. Seems like a strange thing to make so important. Wonder who would do that. Now, I’ve got to go take out some bad guys. Don’t bother waiting up for me. The kids are already in bed. You shouldn’t have any problems.”

“Good luck, sir.”

If a human couldn't change things, maybe an android could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)). You can find Beir on Tumblr ([Beir](https://beir.tumblr.com/)).


	2. Part One: Fabrication

The flash of cameras lost their dazzling quality after years of being in the limelight with them constantly trained on him. It didn’t matter whether he went to a press conference or out to buy a few groceries to cook his own dinner. They always found him to snag a few pictures that would sometimes sell for millions of dollars, not that he understood the reason behind it. Who wanted to spend that much money for a picture of him in unnecessary sunglasses, a ratty shirt, or some ripped up pants? He would never know, but he did know how to work every camera in his vicinity.

So, he put on his best showman smile that people always ate up and waited faux patiently for the clapping to die down. While he pretended to eat up the attention he got during these fancy introductions, he would rather be in his workshop figuring out a way to help people. Unfortunately, as the face of Stark Industries and son of the founder, he had to be the one making huge announcements to a room full of reporters. He had to do it with flair and style to get people’s attention for longer than a second.

“I know, I know. You’re all happy to see me. I think the same thing every morning when I look in the mirror.” He let out a fake laugh that mixed with the guffawing from the audience at his narcissistic joke. “Since you came all the way out here to see me, I’ll go ahead and make that announcement I know you’re all anticipating. Our marketing team did an excellent job of dangling that carrot in front of your noses, but I’m allowed to blab all about it now and I’m sure we’d all like to get home.”

Another fake smile twisted his face as he waited through another round of laughter and cameras flashing in quick succession. If he was being honest with himself, most of them probably didn’t even care what the next words out of his mouth would be. They were here to be a part of the show and to brag to all their friends that they were one of the first to hear the news from the Tony Stark. They were being paid by the top newspapers to bring in the story before any of the other papers could launch it to get the people talking. They were here for the pageantry with no care for what the implications of his newest projects meant for the larger population.

“As you all know, Stark Industries has spent the past century suppling weapons to the military that made travel to Marvel-616 possible. These brave men and women allowed us to find a new home, which we will always be grateful for. They’ve done an amazing job protecting us from all the threats that we’ve encountered to get where we are now, but it’s time to think to the future. Starting next week, Stark Industries will shift focus from only developing state of the art weapons and armor to innovating the fields of healthcare, agriculture, and others that will assist with the daily lives of every person on Marvel-616. We’ve already hired some of the top experts in these fields to assist us in our new goal. So, any questions?”

The room erupted in a cacophony of noises that meant nothing to him as he stared out at the wild crowd surrounding the stage. Several of the reporters standing with their hands raised to get the first question in were easily recognizable from his previous encounters with them. His eyes skipped over the ones he knew would have nothing of interest to ask, until he landed on Christine Everhart. While he knew she had no interest in portraying him in a positive light, he knew she would at least ask a question that had substance to it.

“We’ll start with the lady in the front there. What’s your question?”

After standing to give herself as much of a presence as possible without being on stage, she brought her pen and pad up in preparation for his answer. “As wonderful as that sounds, I find it hard to believe that a warmonger plans to switch to civil activist. If you’re already decided on the switch, you must have some idea of what your company will be doing in the near future. What can we expect? Who can we expect to see advancements from.”

“Obviously I can’t go into too great a detail because we want to remain a competitor in the industry, but I can tell you that biotech is a huge portion of our next launch. I’ve been working closely with Dr. Helen Cho and Princess Shuri of Wakanda to develop technology we believe will change the future.”

“Biotech is still considered a controversial topic after the push by several companies to develop androids that would allow people to transfer their consciousness into them. Picking biotech as your first area for the new direction of your company seems suspicious.”

“Our venture into biotech has nothing to do with the android craze Hammer Industries and other companies stirred up. We don’t want to transfer humans to robotic bodies. Our sole interest is to better the ability of people to live their lives in their current body.”

“Are you talking about prosthetics or something even more invasive?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see like everyone else.” With a flick of his wrist at a reporter he didn’t know the name of, he dismissed whatever other questions Everhart had on the tip of her tongue. “You in the green sweater. What’s on your mind?”

* * *

 

“You don’t actually consider Hammer Industries a competitor, do you?”

“Of course not.” After popping a handful of blueberries into his mouth, Tony rose from his seat to look at the ugly building across from him with neon red trim that slowly pulsed. “Justin Hammer is a Neanderthal. He wouldn’t know a qualified scientist from a circus monkey or a brilliant idea from a complete dud. We both know the reason Hammer Industries is still operating under his control. Hydra wants to make sure he stays a float as long as they need him to. When the time comes, he’ll be the perfect scapegoat for whenever the authorities finally catch on to what they’re doing. That doesn’t mean they need to know I know that. It’s better they think I see Hammer as a legitimate competitor.”

“How are they supposed to believe that when you call Hammer a moron every chance you get?”

“Everyone knows Tony Stark thinks he’s the smartest man to grace the planet. They’ll assume it’s just my hubris acting out. Hydra doesn’t have any reason to worry about me.”

“You say that now, but you can’t know that for sure. You’re their strongest competition and you’ve publicly gone against their political stances. They want to maintain the current status quo with the rich continuing to get richer, while the poor suffer. Better the healthcare system and everything else you plan on doing to help even the playing field goes directly against everything they’re working for. You need to be careful.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Pep. I’ve got this under control.”

With a sigh, Pepper placed a hand on his shoulder to get him to face her, then cupped his jaw in her hands. “It’s been my job to worry about you for years. I’m not going to stop now. Plus, you never have these things under control. You get in over your head because waiting around to make sure everything is perfectly plan doesn’t help people fast enough. Try not to draw too much attention to yourself while all of this blows over. Stay inside and tinker with your toys. Let me handle the press.”

“Fine, but only because you’re better at this than me. This should really be your job.”

“Don’t worry. It will be. For now, you’re responsible for this company and I’m responsible for making sure your mess ends up sparkling clean.”

“Then you should get some rest. You’re going to have a lot of work tomorrow.”

“I’m aware. Good night, Dr. Stark.”

“Good night, Mrs. Potts.”

After giving him a soft smile, she left his office with the soft click of her heels the only noise filling the massive room. The moment the door slid shut behind her, Tony returned his attention to the sight of the building across from his own. He always hated the multi-legged logo that shinned at the top of it and could be seen no matter where one stood on the street. As a child, he actually feared the sight of it so much his Aunt Peggy sat him down to explain why he had nothing to be afraid of. She couldn’t have known just how wrong she was.

As he stared at the blacked-out windows, a flash of something higher up distracted him from the thoughts he’d fallen into. While he couldn’t tell exactly what it was, the sight of a missile headed towards him was familiar enough to get him moving. The defences surrounding the office should’ve kept him safe, but something in his gut told him that wouldn’t be the case. His feet barely carried him a few feet when the missile came screaming through the window and exploded into thousands of pieces.

His body flew through the air. His eyes went blurry. His entire body felt on fire. His mind stopped thinking entire. His world went black.

* * *

 

“It’s been a year since the death of Stark Industries CEO, Dr. Tony Stark. While the person responsible for the attack has not been caught, police still believe the person responsible was either military personnel or a former member of the military. The weapon used to commit this egregious act was identified as one produced by Stark Industries. After taking over for Dr. Stark, the new CEO decided to return Stark Industries focus to the military. Obadiah Stane had this to say on his decision to overturn the last act of the previous CEO.”

“While it saddens me to do this, it is in the best interest of the company to undo all the work Tony put into the shift in direction. In order to prevent such an attack from endangering the lives of our employees, Stark Industries will remain a military focused company. We will focus on the production of better weapons and armor to equip out military with. Even though some may disagree with this, I know Tony would have done the same. He cared deeply for those under his employment and would not have wanted to see any harm come to them. To protect those we see as being part of the Stark Industries family, we will return to our previous goals.”

“Despite their return to equipping the military, one part of Dr. Stark’s future for his company did come to fruition. Dr. Helen Cho and Princess Shuri of Wakanda finished the work they started with Dr. Stark in the biotechnical field of prosthetics. The line of prosthetics that started production at Stark Industries a few months after his death is viewed as the best of all options available. As his will stated, a large portion of his fortune has gone toward making these prosthetics available to any who need them. For his amazing humanitarian work and other outstanding qualities, many have gathered together to mourn the loss of such a great man on this tragic day.”

* * *

 

“After his promise to revolutionize the biotech industry, it’s no surprise that Dr. Tony Stark’s name comes up in any conversation about the field. Those at Hydra recognize the work he could’ve done in the field, but that doesn’t stop them on working to push the boundaries on what it could be. Yesterday, they announced the company will soon begin production on a line of microchips that will change how healthcare is handled. To get a better understanding of what these chips will do, we sent someone to get the inside scoop from Dr. Armin Zola.”

“These microchips may seem small, but their potential is astronomical. They will be able to determine whether someone will require medical care before an issue even arises. The chip will be implanted between the atlas and axis of the spinal column to give it direct access to the nervous system. This will also allow the microchip to sustain itself for a thousand lifetimes. In honor of Tony Stark, Hydra has made these chips affordable for all through discounted rates and other programs. We will also offer free installation of the chip.”

“It certainly does seem like something Dr. Stark would’ve been happy to hear about.”

“It does. It’s a shame he isn’t here to witness it.”

“Yes, it is. Next up, we discuss the future of transportation.”

* * *

 

System Initializing…

15%

37%

61%

77%

89%

95%

99%

System Initialization Complete

 

Neural Upload Initializing…

7%

24%

41%

59%

72%

91%

99%

Neural Upload Complete

 

Synchronization Process Initializing…

1%

18%

25%

34%

46%

53%

65%

73%

87%

92%

99%

Synchronization Process Complete

 

System Status: Stable

 

Wake Up Protocol: Initiated

3

2

1

* * *

 

It made no sense to him. He remembered the last thing that happened to him with crystal clear clarity, like a movie he could rewind to watch again in high definition. The explosion should have killed him. It did kill him. His bones shattered, shrapnel pierced his chest, the impact caused his brain to slam around in his skull causing bruises and blood vessel ruptures. It made no sense that he remembered those things happening. He should be dead and buried. Even if he did survive, his thoughts should be a mess because of the pain. The numbers didn’t add up, or he didn’t have all the variables.

With surprising ease, he opened his eyes to find himself in a room lit by a soft blue light that couldn’t be coming from the ceiling. When he tipped his head down to find the source, he let out a surprised noise at the sight of a glowing circular object in the middle of his chest. While he couldn’t clearly see it, the design looked similar to one Obadiah forced him to put on the backburner when he told him the end product wouldn’t be weaponizable. He attempted to bring his hand up to inspect it, but he found his hand moved much slower than he wanted it and it had nothing to do with pain.

Now that he focused on it, the lack of pain came from a complete lack of any physical feeling. The steady drip of water from the ceiling told him the room should feel on the chilly side but didn’t feel cold. Whatever he rested on didn’t have any recognizable texture to it or feel how a solid object pressing against his body should. He lacked these feelings because he no longer possessed the neurons necessary to experience them. The neurons now running his body could barely function well enough for him to move a singular limb while thinking about it.

Slowly, he moved the hand resting on his chest to hover in front of his face. The crudely grafted skin covering the material now making up his body hardly concealed the innerworkings that allowed him to run. While he knew the sudden realization he no longer possessed a human body should’ve terrified him, no emotions came suddenly bubbling to the surface. He felt no horror or anger or sadness. No emotional response logic told him he should experience occurred.

A door opened to the left of him that allowed a shaft of light to filter into the room around a tall man that walked to his side. He looked down at him with cold, calculating eyes that did little more than confirm his suspicion that he didn’t end up among friends. It made sense the people responsible for the explosion would retrieve his body afterwards for a multitude of reason. His brain function being enough to put in a rudimentary android body had probably been an added bonus.

“You’re finally awake. I was beginning to think the scientists messed something up.”

“I’d hardly consider them scientists.”

After letting out a thoughtful hum, the man pulled something out of his pocket and pressed a button on it. His body moved of its own accord into a sitting position with his legs dangling over the edge of the slab he sat on. The movements were jerky, and he heard the sound of the parts moving within him as they ground together. Once he returned the item to his pocket, the man leaned over him.

“While they may have failed in one aspect, they succeeded in the most important. Whether you want to or not, you will complete the plans for the weapon we collected from your personal computer. We know they’re incomplete. Finish them.”

“Or what? You’ll torture me? Hate to break it to you, but your scientists didn’t manage to get around to installing the feature that would allow me to feel, emotionally or physically.”

“But you still can understand the implications of things.” He waited for Tony to acknowledge his statement as accurate, then continued on with his speech. “That means you understand that you may not feel, but the people you cared about can still feel. It would not be difficult to put one of them in a situation that would cause them harm. If you do not complete the weapon within the month, we will start with Mrs. Potts.”

“I’ll need the proper parts.”

“Prepare a list. We will get you everything you need.”

“And tools.”

“Everything. Complete your list.”

* * *

 

His new body didn’t have the fine motor skills of his old body; that had to be fixed first to accomplish anything worthwhile. Being able to make tiny connections and type on a keyboard faster than a turtle walking ranked highest on his list of priorities and would be easy enough to pass off as a necessary upgrade. All he’d need to do was throw out a few technical terms, then go on a rant about their weapons taking months to build. They’d give in easily enough, but some of the other upgrades he had in mind would need to be handled in more secrecy.

Luckily for him, he no longer required rest at night or any other breaks that his human captors would need to take time out of their day for. He already identified a point in the room the security cameras they installed were completely blind to, especially with the lights off. It was well away from some of the equipment required for a few steps of his various upgrades, but he already had ways to make phases requiring the equipment look as though he was working on a weapon for them. The base of them would end up being harmless distractions that would break after a few uses, making them completely worthless.

One shining flaw still remained in his escape plan. The final step would require him to hook up directly to one of the computers to upload a complete rehaul of his code. For several minutes, he would go completely offline for a system reboot to allow the coding to take full effect. If they found him during that time, there was no telling what they would decide to do with him. They could come to the accurate conclusion that he would end up being more trouble than he was worth or keep him off long enough to figure out a way to make him completely compliant.

Of course, he thought up a potential solution to that, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t find a way to get their hands on his designs. He knew Rhodey and Pepper destroyed them just as he had asked them to in the case of his death and trusted them to do it properly. The problem remained that some things could never be truly destroyed and found with enough persistence and knowledge. Controlling him would be a worse outcome, so everything would be left to chance when the time came. In the event they did find him, they would end up destroying him permanently or he would do it himself.

With the final list of supplies complete, he pushed away from the small workbench someone must’ve shoved in as an afterthought. The gears in his legs ground together with every step he took, causing a loud whining noise to echo off the walls. Undoubtedly, the guard posted outside the door heard him well before his hand tapped against the door because he couldn’t form a fist. A slot at eye height in the  door slammed open long enough for him to slip the paper awkwardly through it, then closed again.

Voices raised as the man reported to someone he got the list from him and boots stomped against the ground. The lack of fine-tuning in his hearing made it impossible to actually make out any of the words they spoke at a normal volume. Since there was no point standing at the door any longer, he returned to the computer on his small desk to begin working on the code. His fingers pecked frustratingly slow one key at a time, but with nothing else to do, he might as well get started on something. It would only take him a few hundred years to finish it at this speed. He certainly had the time to do it.

* * *

 

The new gears in his fingers glided around each other with an ease that far surpassed the ability of the previous ones. He could now bend his fingers to touch his palm, make a fist, and hold small objects between his fingers. It may have taken him three days to accomplish such a small part of his total upgrade, but he knew it was one of the most important improvements. Now, he could handle all the tools he would need to fix the rest of the poorly designed body.

With his first objective out of the way, he dug out the pieces he set aside the instant they brought them to him. While it wasn’t his exact design, the arc reactor they put in his chest must have been based off of one of miniaturized versions powering some of the weapons he designed. In these conditions, he wouldn’t be able to maximize the ability of the arc reactor keeping his body functioning, but he’d be able to multiple the current production value by about 250%. The increase would allow him to add the blasters to his hands without fear of completely draining his energy source before making it out.

Carefully, he twisted the arc reactor until he heard the click of it unlocking, then slowly pull it out of his chest. Once the wires keeping it connected went taut, he pushed in the small slot that would release the component they used. He replaced it with the palladium he would have to make do with until he could create an element better suited to running his body. When he locked the reactor back into place, he felt a pulse of energy rush though him, like a boost of coffee would have in his human form.

After taking stock of the parts left over, he made quick work of opening up his right wrist to better the movement of it. Hopefully, they’d bring him more parts tomorrow, so he could get more of his body functioning in a passable manner. If he was going to make it out of here still functioning, the stability of his body had to be greatly increased. In his current state, one of his knees could lock up or the connection before his hips and spine might come loose. That would leave him a sitting duck for his captors’ amusement.

So, he would fix the mobility of his wrist joints to make taking apart the rest of him easier, then the other upgrades would come. All he had to do was continue to act like he could hardly move faster than a tortoise, so they wouldn’t suspect a thing. They would also expect his first round of weapons in the near future, which meant less time to work on himself. Pepper always did tell him he needed to learn to work on balancing his obligations. Maybe, he would finally learn.

* * *

 

“What is this?” The man poked the device with the muzzle of his gun, like a complete moron, then looked at Tony expectantly.

“Well, it’s not a bomb that goes off when you touch it. Aren’t you a lucky one.”

Despite the distance between them, the man walked the distance over to him just to slam the butt of his gun against the side of his face. The thin layer covering his mechanical innerworkings tore from the hit and he felt something bent out of shape, making it impossible to fully close his mouth. A smirk appeared on the man’s face that he wanted to slap off, but he resisted the urge to prevent any more damage.

“What is this?”

“A miniaturized sonic emission device. It can incapacitate an entire room of people without them even knowing. It’s a bit subtler than your normal tactics, but I’m sure you can figure out how that could benefit your secret organization.”

“And this one?”

“Fancy taser.” When the man made to hit him again, he held up his hands in surrender and motioned back to the device. “Fire it at one person and it’ll chain to anyone in a ten feet radius of them. Of course, the power of it decreases the further away they are, but it will still be enough to stun them for a moment. You’ll also want to be sure you’re out of reach.”

“Is this all?”

“You’ve given me a quarter of the parts I asked for. What did you expect? There’s only so much I can do with these scraps. Bring me everything I asked for and you’ll get more things to make other things go boom.”

“Raza will be told about this.”

“If I actually knew who that was, I might be quaking in my metaphorical boot. Well, I’d also need the programing required to complete such an action.”

Another sneer was thrown his way, then the man left the room with plenty of stomping from his oversized combat boots. The door slammed shut behind him because he couldn’t be bothered to close it before continuing on his way. To prevent any surprise visits from catching him off guard, he went to the workbench to spend the afternoon on a dud bomb for them. He would have to wait for the night to finish up the coding.

* * *

 

“Only a few finishing touches, and…” What probably looked more like a constipated grin than a smile came onto his face as he completed the last line. “all done. Look at that. Now, to make sure I can make it through this.”

While they hadn’t put much in terms of furniture in his room, there was enough to barricade the door well enough to keep them busy for several minutes. He pushed the lone filing cabinet he filled with a random assortment of materials that could cause an explosion if jostled hard enough. After carefully lowering that to a horizontal position, he pushed his workbench over to the door to add a little more to the pile. It definitely wouldn’t keep them out for long, but it would have to be enough. Before heading back to the computer, he hooked up a bomb to the door, so it would go off the instant someone pushed it open.

“Here we go.” The port on his arm opened with a quick prod to the thin plastic covering it, then he plugged in the cable to allow the upload. “Enter.”

System Initializing…

15%

37%

61%

77%

89%

95%

99%

System Initialization Complete

 

Software Upgrade Initializing…

5%

22%

45%

65%

81%

94%

Software Upgrade Complete

 

System Reboot…

13%

37%

72%

98%

System Reboot Complete

 

Synchronization Process Initializing…

1%

18%

25%

34%

46%

53%

65%

73%

87%

92%

99%

Synchronization Process Complete

 

System Status: Stable

 

Wake Up Protocol: Initiated

3

2

1

His eyes snapped open to find the room destroyed and a man about to pull the cable out of his arm. He snapped an arm out to grab his wrist, then twisted his arm until he heard his shoulder dislocate. A punch to the temple sent him to the ground in an unconscious heap that wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. While he didn’t need it, he grabbed the gun strapped to his back just in case it came in handy for something later. Shouting in the hallway alerted him to the group of men that would most likely bust through the hole in the wall where the door used to be. He needed to add different layers of vision to his list of upgrades.

Before they could step into the room, he tossed out a chain taser disk that he heard land on a member of the group. Screams echoed off the cement walls of the corridor, then the sound of bodies thudding to the ground reached his sensors. Knowing there could still be people standing, he stepped into the hallway with the gun raised and his finger on the trigger. One slumped against the wall struggled to bring their weapon up, but a punch to the face sent them to the ground. He picked his way through the bodies, taking a few fun looking toys as he went, and proceeded up the stairs.

Based on the yelling, the rest of the base had been alerted to his escape. The odds were a group of them were pointing their guns directly at the entrance to the stairs to pull the trigger of their guns the instant he came into view. Rather than waste one of his bombs, he tossed a smoke grenade in a perfect arc, so it landed right at the top of the stairs. With their view obscured and his still flawless, he ascended the steps quickly. He emptied the clip of the gun into the group of people, then tossed it to the side as he picked up a new one.

As he continued on his way out of the building, he looked for weaknesses in the infrastructure to stick half a dozen bombs to. Once he had the last one in place, he stopped twisting his way around them and made to meet them head on. Most them he took out with a bullet to the head, but a few he used his increased strength to incapacitate, until he came to the main room. At the sight of Raza standing between him and the door, he tossed away the gun to finally use the weapons he’d been saving.

“That is far enough, Stark.” In an attempt to humiliate him, Raza held up the remote he used the first time they met to control him, then pushed one of the buttons. “Return to your room.”

“Sorry, there seems to be a bug. Maybe, try again?”

“That’s not possible.”

“Anything is possible when you leave me alone in a room. You have no idea how easy it was to create a better program for this body than what your little minions came up with, and deleting that program was a piece of cake. You almost made it too easy for me. I’m a little disappointed. I thought terrorist organizations were supposed to be better than this. Guess I was wrong.”

“You talk too much.”

The gears that allowed his mouth to tick up twitched a little, which caused several of the men around Raza to look uneasy. “It’s called a distraction.”

His repulsors whirled to life in a flash of bright blue light as he snapped them up to aim at Raza, then erupted from his palms. One beam slammed into the ground in front of the group of the group, while the other hit Raza directly in the face. The man was thrown back by the force of it into a wall that he landed motionless at the bottom of. Several others were on the ground in heaps and those that weren’t hit were attempting to get out of the room. After firing off a few more blasts at them, he went out the window closest to him despite being on the second floor.

The impact of his feet hitting the ground caused his left knee to lock up, leading to him dropping to the ground on his hands and knees. With his knee still locked, he hobbled out of the alleyway he fell into and ended up on a dark street lined with buildings and flashing neon signs. Going by the grungy look and barely dressed women, they’d been keeping him in Sector Six, which really shouldn’t have surprised him. He limped his way in what he thought to be the direction of Sector Seven, then came to a halt a few buildings away. After a quick check to make sure no one was near the building, he pressed the denote button and watched as the building exploded.

As people ran screaming from the building, he slipped down an alleyway between buildings to avoid suspicion. His awkward walk and not quite human features would catch the attention of anyone with a lick of sense. So, he rounded onto the next street with one thing in mind, then took the long trench coat off a mannequin he passed and flicked up the collar. If the owner of the shop hadn’t been busy shooting up, he might have noticed the theft of one of his coats. Instead, he was able to continue on his way without getting too much attention.

A few more streets that took much too long to navigate because of his leg later, he came to the wall dividing Sector Six from Seven. The only entrance to the area was blocked off by heavy doors and a pair of bored Peacekeepers. They probably assumed no one would attempt to get into Sector Seven because of the poison air, which meant the waste systems wouldn’t be guarded. All it took was a little exploring to find a manhole cover that he hooked into to override the controls.

He dropped into the sewer system with a little difficulty and heard the cover snap shut behind him before he hit the water. If he were human the smell would’ve been unbearable and the water soaking his pants cold, but he couldn’t experience any of that. It was entirely too easy to make his way through the system to the unblocked piping that created a maze underneath Sector Seven. All he had to do was find somewhere suitable for a workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)). You can find Beir on Tumblr ([Beir](https://beir.tumblr.com/)).


	3. Part Two: Pursuit

“Sir, might I make a suggestion?”

The click of his old reactor unlocking echoed through the workshop as he slowly started to pull the device out of his chest. “What would you suggest?”

“Perhaps it is unwise to remove that on your own. The bots may be able to assist you.”

“It worked out fine the last time I did it. My backup power lasts long enough to replace it.”

“Ten seconds hardly seems like an adequate amount of time to compensate for the removal of your reactor.”

“As soon as I have the materials to fix it, I’ll upgrade it. Funnily enough, there aren’t a lot of spare parts around here. I’ll have to go into one of the other sectors to get all the parts I need, which shouldn’t be a problem after this. No more overheating.”

“Your face still causes a problem, sir. Getting recognized would ruin the secrecy you’re determined to maintain.”

“I’m not putting anyone else in danger.” With a quick tug, the old reactor disconnected from the wiring in his chest. A shutdown imminent warning flash as he worked on hooking the new one up, then disappeared when the final wire slid home. “Plus, they probably think I’m dead. It’ll be fun to see the look on their faces when I come back to bite them in the ass. I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun for them.”

“Then I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear that the upgrades to my scanning system have allowed me to access security cameras in Sector Six. I’ve identified several of the Ten Rings members in the area. One in particular has been quite active. He appears to be working for a drug cartel.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day, J. Pull the footage up for me.”

A man that came to check on him a few times while the Ten Ring held him captive appeared in front of him. Neon lights illuminated his face enough for him to read his lips as he spoke to a hooded figure that kept shifting around. After a short conversation, he traded something-mostly likely drugs-to the hooded figure, then lifted his own hood and walked out of the alley. His view changed from one camera to the next, until he reached a building with a sign right above the door that didn’t have all the flair most did.

“How often does he come here?”

“At least once a day. It may be where the cartel he’s working for is operating out of or where he goes to pick up the product. The owner of the establishment has no prior convictions, but their brother has been linked to the cartel I believe Abu to be a part of.”

“When does he normally visit?”

“Between nine and eleven.”

“Are there any abandoned buildings in the vicinity?”

A map of the area replaced the still footage with a red dot to indicate the store and stars on several buildings nearby. “Most of them would require you to pass in front of cameras. This one is the only one you could do so without running that risk.”

“Sounds like I need to get my shopping list ready.”

“And a disguise.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

“I’m thrilled to see what you’ve come up with.”

* * *

 

Pulsing pink light illuminated the dark street as he strolled along the sidewalk to the dingy bar at the end of the road. No one looked twice at him because he looked like all the other people passing him by-dark clothes, hood up, heavy boots. All the proper training his mother forced him through as a child was nowhere to be found. His shoulders were slightly slouched, and his head tipped down like he just wanted to mind his own business. For once, people left him alone.

The door to the bar creaked open after a little extra shove, then squeaked as it slowly shut behind him. Inside, most of the patrons were hidden away in dark corners with drinks in hand and few had a little something extra. A couple spared a glance at him as he made his way to the bar, but none of them showed more than a fleeting interest. The woman behind the bar finished pouring a drink for someone, then turned her attention to him.

“What can I get for you?”

“Whiskey.”

Without any pomp or circumstance, she poured him a whiskey and place it in front of him. “Anything else?”

“You wouldn’t happen to know if Abu is here. He said I was supposed to meet him here but mentioned he might be late.”

“He’s busy right now. He should be done soon. I’ll send him over when I see him.”

“Thanks.”

To keep from looking suspicious, he kept his head down and his eyes focused on the whiskey he slowly swirled. While those in the bar would expect him to drink it, the limitations of his new body meant he had to find some other way to get rid of it if Abu took to long. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept track of any movement that might mean their meeting finished. He was about to figure out how to dispose of his drink when heavy boots slamming against the old wood floor made it unnecessary.

“Pour us a round.”

“Are you finally going to pay your tab?”

“You know I will.”

“Sure.” Liquid pouring into glasses reached his ears, then the bartender continued. “Abu, there’s someone here for you.”

“Who?”

“Do I look like your secretary? I didn’t bother to ask. They said you told them to meet you here.”

“That wasn’t supposed to be until tomorrow.”

“Not my problem. They’re at the other end of the bar.”

His barstool skid across the floor as he pushed it away without a care for the marks he most likely left in the overly scuffed wood. While Abu crossed the short distance between them, he tapped out a nervous staccato on his thigh. The sedatives in his pocket served as a heavy reminder that if things went south, some semblance of a backup plan existed. J would probably disapprove of his dependence on things going right, but his eagerness to finally have some information won out.

“Who are you?” The harshness of his tone sought to scare him off like a scared dog barking. “I asked who you are.”

“That’s no way to speak to a customer. Didn’t they teach you that? I would think it’d be drug dealer 101. Wouldn’t want to scare off the anxious and paranoid clientele.”

“Answer the question. I don’t have time to play games.”

Just enough to give him a glimpse, he pulled the hood away from the side of his face. “You haven’t forgotten me so quickly, have you? I’d be disappointed if you had. I’m not used to being forgotten. In fact, people normally call me unforgettable.”

“It’s not possible.”

“Why is that? Obviously, you didn’t find a body. I wouldn’t be here if you had.”

“They’ll kill us if they find out.”

“Guess you shouldn’t have let that happen. What you should do is come with me and answer all the questions I have.”

“Ridiculous.”

“For you to refuse. I agree.” His hand slipped into his pocket to fiddle with the sedative as he stood. “Come on. You know I’m not known for my patience and it’s been even lower since your little band of misfits turned me into this.”

“I told Raza to let you die. He should have listened to me.”

“Yes, he should’ve, but it’s too late for that. Time to face a monster of your own creation, Abu.”

* * *

 

Abu paced nervously around the room, like a caged animal wanting to get out, but knowing it isn’t possible. He might’ve left him to stew in his own thoughts all night if he had the forethought to better outfit the abandoned building. His next excursion out would require careful planning to better take advantage of these opportunities to get information. If Abu lied to him about anything, he didn’t have a way of knowing and the man would be long gone before he could get to him again.

“Let’s make this simple. I have questions and you have answers. You’ll tell me what I want to know, then I’ll let you go back to peddling drugs in back alleys to feed your family.”

“How do you know about them?”

“It’s not exactly difficult to access that kind of information when your mind is a high processing computer that can easily obtain that information by hooking up to the internet. Although, I must admit that I could’ve figure it out without the connection to technology. You didn’t exactly do a good job of keeping your personal life a secret.”

“What do you want to know?”

He let out a little hum as he took a step closer to the anxious man. “Let’s start with the Ten Rings. What kind of group were you before I ruined all the fun?”

“A terrorist organization.”

“That wanted to?”

“You know how they live, like kings above the peasants. Everyone knows that they have technologies that allow them to last forever, and what about us? We suffer in their name. We do all their dirty work for barely enough money, while they sit in their cozy penthouses.”

“I advocated for better working conditions and higher wages. How is that not in line with your goals?”

“You’re part of the established system. It all needs to burn.”

“How revolutionary of you. What about the people your organization was working for? Are they free of the system you despise so much?”

“We had no choice.” A scowl appeared on his face, but it wasn’t aimed at him. “Raza made the decision for us when we were struggle to gain ground. It was necessary. We would’ve turned on them in the end.”

“Who is them?”

“Hydra.”

“What did they agree to give you in exchange?”

“What do you think? Power, weapons, the mind of the greatest man to walk 616. All we had to do was make sure your supposed death was believed by the public.”

“Because I was becoming a thorn in their side.”

“Your partner told them you were becoming more persistent.”

If he still had blood, it would’ve run cold at the mention of the man he considered his father. “What?”

“Stane came to us on behalf of Hydra. Apparently, he was the one to suggest working with us. He didn’t just want you out of the way. He needed to be sure that everything went to him.”

“Hydra wanted control of Stark Industries.”

“Maybe, but I didn’t and don’t care. We were contracted for to keep you off the board. They didn’t care if you really did die, but your death needed to be something they could twist to their advantage. Raza was a fool to believe they wanted a partnership. They ruined us.”

“Don’t bother getting revenge. They’ll be gone before you get the chance.”

“You plan on taking them on? They killed you once. They’ll have no problem doing it again.”

“I’m counting on it.” After letting a dark smirk twist his lips, he turned on his heel to leave the building, only to stop with his hand on the door. “What happened to Stane?”

“He’s on the news all the time, but I don’t care to listen. I do know he shows up at one of the clubs in this sector on the weekends.”

“What club?”

“Iron Monger.”

* * *

 

“Still need to figure out a way to keep the facial camouflage from malfunctioning under certain types of light. Any ideas, J?”

“Nothing that is possible with your current supplies.”

“That’s what I figured. Engineering these kinds of things was much easier when I got deliveries straight to my workshop. All I had to do was order what I might need and there it was.”

“It is quite unfortunate. The more trips you make for supplies, the greater chance someone will recognize you. Losing your one advantage would be inconvenient.”

“Feeling the confidence, J.” The material flickered a few different hues, then lost all coloration and went limp. “If I don’t get what I need to fix this, getting supplies will keep being a potential risk. Stane will also recognize me the instant I walk into the club.”

“Is Stane really a priority? The attack on Hydra can be accomplished without talking to Stane.”

“He’ll have all the information we need to get on Hydra. He’s always carried that kind of information on his person because he doesn’t trust other people. If we get to him, he’ll have everything, and it’ll be easy to take it from him.”

“I don’t think you’re taking into account the-”

“Believe me, I’ve taken everything into account. I’ve dug up information on this place. It’s not the kind of establishment he’d want people to know he goes to. He’ll be in the VIP section to minimize the chance of someone recognizing him. He’ll also bring limited security for the same reason. Odds are there’s a particular girl or girls that he always spends time with. A little bit of scouting and I’ll be able to get to him without anyone knowing.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“Just need to fix up the bugs in this, then I’ll be able to get into the club without a problem. It’ll be easy.”

“Of course it will, sir.”

While J.A.R.V.I.S. didn’t have any eyes to roll, he could hear the implication in his tone. “Remind me again why I created you when all you do is bring me down? I’m completely capable of getting this to work, so I can blend in with everyone else that spends their nights in a seedy club.”

“I have the utmost faith in you.”

“For some reason, I don’t believe you. What time is it?”

“The stores you normally go to will still be open by the time you get there.”

“It’s like you can read my mind, J.” After wiping his hands off on a rag, he pushed away from the workbench. “What are the chances I’ll be able to find what I need to finish off the other project?”

“The materials you are missing are extremely specific and not the kind of thing you find at the generic stores you go to.”

“So, that’s a not at all.”

“Yes, it is.”

He slipped on his trench coat as he struggled to shove his feet into his boots without the aid of his hands to keep the sides from tucking down. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Make sure nothing catches on fire while I’m gone.”

“As always, I have the emergency sprinklers on standby. If anything happens, it’ll be put out before it gets the chance to ruin your entire hideout.”

* * *

 

Pulsing lights and thumping music filled the space much too small to accommodate the number of people crammed in it. Bodies on the dancefloor moved almost as one mass instead of individuals trying to enjoy an evening out. Rather than join in the throng, he slipped around those on the fringes to get the long bar lining the side of the room. At the end of it, he could see a section separated from the rest of the club by a small set of steps and two bodyguards.

While he wanted to immediately find the best spot to observe the VIP area, he took his time casually making his way along the bar. Several people stopped to chat and flirt with him, so he played along until the conversation came to a natural end. Neither of the bodyguards appeared suspicious of him when he finally reached the end of the bar closest to the VIP section. Unfortunately, it didn’t provide him a good view of who was permitted beyond the stereotypical bald bouncers.

After faking tossing back the drink in his hand, he stepped away from the bar to join the throng of people dancing. As smoothly as possible, he shimmied his way through the crowd until he had a perfect view of the VIP section without appearing too obvious. He continued to dance and toss his fake blue hair around as he surveyed the group looking out at the dancers on display for them. Most of them he didn’t recognize, but they looked exactly like the kind of people he’d expect to work with Hydra. He felt oddly calm as he watched Obadiah engaging in what appeared to be an off the books deal.

Experimentally, he adjusted his hearing until the thumping bass faded away and the sound of their voices were clear as crystal. “-on the way.”

“I can assure you that everything will arrive before your demonstration. I have my people working on it right now. It’ll get done.”

“Excuse me if I find that hard to believe. Everyone knows the brains behind Stark Industries was Stark. Now that he’s gone, it seems unlikely that your company will continue to be the innovator we all came to for something to give us an edge. Of course, I’d be happy to be proven wrong.”

“Everything will be delivered to you as scheduled. I’m handling it personally.”

“I’m sure you are. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back. There are still things we need to discuss.”

“A pleasure doing business with you. I’ll be seeing you soon.” Several of the men rose to depart with a flourish of their ridiculous pleather trench coats, then left with the same dramatic flair. “Idiots.”

“Hydra will wipe them out before they get a chance to carry out that ridiculous plan. We can’t have them getting in the way. We’re too close to accomplishing our goal to allow them to make a mess of things. The Winter Soldier will take care of it.”

“Good. I’m tired of dealing with them.”

“Pierce is grateful you agreed to keep an eye on this.”

“We both know this was a favor for what he did. I’m just glad it’s finally coming to an end. Is there some other reason you came all the way to see me? I’m sure someone less important could’ve been sent to deliver that message.”

The man across from Obadiah pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. “As we’re both aware, the Ten Rings did not hold up their end of the bargain in regards to Tony Stark. No one has seen him since the fire, but Raza was able to track down the scientists responsible for the transfer.”

“And?”

“They told us everything we already knew. Nothing he did during the escape was something they programmed him for. He must have modified himself before his escape.”

“So, you’re no closer to finding him than you were.”

“We do have some ideas, but we need you to answer some questions. We wouldn’t want to waste any resources on useless searches. I’m sure you understand.”

“Completely.” Obadiah leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table, then made a platform with his hands to rest his chin on. “What do you need from me?”

“We understand there are a few people that he trusted. If you could look over this list for me, it’ll give us some places to start looking for him.”

“I’ve told you before. There’s no way he would show his face to any of them. He’d be concerned that we’d come after them to get to him. Look in the places you’d least expect him to be.”

“Even if he isn’t with them, we can still use them against him.”

While he hadn’t planned on approaching Obadiah tonight, the threat uttered by that other man had him moving before he could stop himself. The two bodyguards blocking off the entrance to the VIP lounge stood a little straighter as he approached them. One held out a hand suggesting he stop walking toward them, but he took it and snapped his wrist. He fell to his knees with a shout of pain that couldn’t be heard over the music filling the club. When the other stepped up to do what his partner couldn’t, he slammed his palm hard into his nose. Blood spurted out of his broken nose that distracted him from attempting to block the blow to the head that knocked him out.

The two men at the table were scrambling to get out of the booth when he looked up from the two bodies on the guard. As effortlessly as with the body guards, he slapped the other man hard enough across the face to knock him unconscious. With that taken care of, he turned just in time to push Obadiah back into the booth with his hand on his chest to dissuade him from moving. A mixture of fear and confusion filled his eyes as he looked up at him with bated breath.

“This must be strange for you. I’m sure you weren’t expecting to ever see me again. Although, it sounded like you knew I made it out of it alive. You should’ve expected me to stop by at some point.”

“Tony?”

Instead of dropping the facial camouflage for dramatic effect, he kept it firmly in place to keep any cameras from picking up his identity. “Someone told me an interesting story. They told me you were the one responsible for what happened to me. Obviously, I have a few questions. Some of which, I just got the answers to.”

“You’re not in a position to be asking questions. You can’t even show your own face in public or you would’ve done so already. We both know you haven’t been in contact with anyone, so you’re doing all of this on your own. Those two weren’t the only ones I brought to make sure nothing happens to me. You’re out numbered.”

“Not outgunned. We both know I was the one responsible for all the designs. Who have you been relying on to create new products for the company since I’ve been gone? You’re a businessman, not an engineer.”

“I know a profitable idea when I see it.”

“I know. That’s why you waited for me to finish my work on arc reactor technology before you got someone to kill me. How long have you been working for Hydra? Since the beginning?” He placed his hand on Obadiah chest, then applied enough pressure he would be pinned to the back of the booth. “What are you getting out of this? Money? Power?”

“That’s the problem, Tony. You always looked at the world through too narrow a lens. You fail to grasp the bigger possibilities. Hydra has a vision for that future that will propel humans above what we could’ve dreamed of achieving.”

“At what cost? A utopia like that only exists when those that don’t fit the ideal pay the price. What price has Hydra decided humanity can pay to achieve their goal.”

“It’s a shame you think that way. They asked me after they killed your father whether you could be brought into the fold, but I told them you cared too much about humanity to ever see things their way. They still considered it, but as soon as you changed the direction of the company from weapons manufacturing to humanitarian technological innovations they knew I was right. You want to see the good in the world but look at the state of it. We came to this planet because we ruined our own and look what we did. The exact same thing. Humanity is too destructive in its present form. It needs someone to take control that won’t shy away from making the tough decisions.”

“Bull shit. Hydra doesn’t care about humanity or making the tough decisions. They want power. They want to control people.”

“Maybe what people need is a little control.”

As though they were waiting for his signal, complete chaos suddenly erupted. Screaming and glass shattering sounded over the thudding bass. Instinctively, he turned to survey the damage and assess for the best possible solution to prevent the most psychological and physical harm. He should’ve anticipated his lack of concentration on Obadiah giving him the perfect opportunity to take advantage of his slackened hand to exploit his weak point.

The arc reactor clicked out of place with a quick flick of his wrist that allowed him to pull it completely out after a sharp tug that disconnected it. Warnings blared about an imminent shutdown, but he brushed those aside to focus on Obadiah’s movements. Instead of tossing it away, he held it up like a shiny new trophy he couldn’t wait to put on display in his office.

“Beautiful. Who knew you had one last golden egg to give? The applications to this compact version are endless. Hydra will be excited to get their hands on this. I’m sure their scientists will get plenty of ideas from this. Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t thank me yet.”

Even though he hadn’t fully tested it, he brought his free hand up to fire a blast of energy just over Obadiah’s head. He startled from the unexpected attack, causing him to drop the arc reactor. His advanced reflexes were the only reason the arc reactor didn’t end up somewhere under the table. With his eyes scanning Obadiah for any sign of movement, he replaced the arc reactor in his chest.

“Tell me what Hydra’s planning.”

“So you can stop them? That won’t happen.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“That’s all your going to get. Divulging Hydra secrets in a death sentence. I know to fear them more than you.”

“Maybe before. Unfortunately, you’re facing me, not them. You should have made sure that Hydra finished the job. Unlike them, I don’t miss.” After plucking the phone from his pocket, he fired a blast at Obadiah right where the arc reactor sat in his own chest.

* * *

 

“Sir, it appears that you’ve almost used up your power source. Might I suggest switching to a new reactor?”

“Things didn’t go quite according to plan.”

“I’m shocked.”

“Wow. Back for five seconds and I’m already getting the sass.” Instead of going to replace the reactor, he dropped into his chair to hook the phone up to his computer. “Start scanning that for information on Hydra. I doubt he kept their master plans on that but see what information he kept on locations. I’m sure there are tons of smaller pockets. I want to know where they do most of their evil planning when they’re not in Sector One. Also, look for any mentions of Winter Soldier.”

“Is their anything else I can assist you with?”

“Potential replacements for the palladium. I barely used the blasters tonight and it drained the reactor. There must be something that will work better.”

“I’ll see what I can find.”

“You’re the best, J.”

* * *

 

He never believed the world to be a perfect place. Even as a child, he knew it to be too corrupt for that to be possible. Humans are inherently flawed. It's simply the nature of things. People were greedy, selfish, and cruel. They manipulate and abuse others to get what they want with no regard for anything that might be in their way. Cities could be leveled and those responsible wouldn’t care as long as they could build their empires on the ashes.

Technology allowed that nature to stay hidden in plain sight as those who sought to control people beneath them grew more powerful. As technology advanced, the disparity between those that could enjoy it and those that couldn't grew. While the rich enjoyed life and luxury, most struggled to survive in the downtrodden sectors of the planet. Even the sectors housing the middle class looked rundown and outdated compared to the flashy high rises the elite called home. Those that sought to change that always had a way of disappearing.

Always.

Some disappeared so subtlety that most didn’t even notice they were gone, or the masses never cared enough about them in the first place. Hell, he’d been just as blind to it all, until Ho Yinsen went from being his favorite person to listen to with his morning coffee to nothing more than a memory. It hadn’t been a secret Yinsen advocated for giving workers more rights and fair pay, but someone didn’t agree with those views. He went from hosting a well thought out morning show on one of the few channels of substance to-most likely-dead in a ditch somewhere.

“Sir, the scan finished. Hydra presence in the area located. The closest one is a research facility. I have sent you the coordinates.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)). You can find Beir on Tumblr ([Beir](https://beir.tumblr.com/)).


	4. Part Three: Icarus

“Tell me what I’m looking at, J.” Through the window of the rundown building across the street, he could easily see the Hydra facility J.A.R.V.I.S. found in Obadiah’s data files. “That’s a lot of security for one research facility.”

“From what I could, this is the last known location of the Winter Soldier. There are no further details on that, but I was able to find that this is also where Hydra does a majority of their advanced weapon’s testing and manufacturing. It also seems to be a common meeting place between Hydra and important clientele they cannot afford to be seen doing dealings with at their offices. Obadiah frequently met them here.”

“Sounds like the perfect place to get some information and throw a wrench in their operations. What schematics do you have on it?”

“Minimal. While building plans must be submitted to the government for emergency purpose, it appears that Hydra have connections that allowed them to get away with vague schematics. Only a front and rear exit are marked. However, the city’s water system map show there must be a chute that allows them to dump water into the lake for filtering through the water plant.”

“There’s no way I can go through there. Even if I found a way up the chute, I still haven’t perfected the water proofing. The element of surprise would be ruined if they found me malfunctioning in their waste system. I’ll have to figure something else out. I’m going offline now. See you on the other side, J.”

“Good luck, sir.”

To prevent Hydra from picking up the connection, he shut the link between him and J.A.R.V.I.S. While it was tempting to barge in through the front door, the odds of success were too low to make it a viable option. Between the cameras and the patroling security detail, little room remained for him to sneak in under the radar. Disrupting their systems for longer than a few moments would put them on alert the same as being seen. Maybe, he needed to look at it from another angle.

Despite the dilapidated state of the building, the stairs didn’t give out on him as he took them two at a time to get to the roof. The proximity of the buildings made it easy to see that the one he stood on was a few feet taller than the Hydra facility. Combining the proximity and height different meant the possibility of making the jump between the two roofs was well within possibility. Unlike the rest of the building, the roof didn’t have cameras watching every inch of it. No one had the forethought to consider the possibility of someone using the roof access door for entry.

“Different angle it is.”

Instead of taking a few steps back to get more momentum going, the advanced capabilities of his android body made it easy to take a step and launch himself across the short distance. Easily, he stuck the landing with plenty of space to spare between him and the edge of the roof. When no sudden alarms started to blare and he didn’t pick up a silent system, he moved for door. As expected, the door was locked, but after removing the knob and giving the door a bit more encouragement with his shoulder, it popped open.

Despite the lack of lighting, he had no problem navigating the darkness of the top floor that seemed to be comprised of several large offices. Odds were this was where Hydra entertained their clientele and conducted a lot of their dirty dealings. The fact no one currently occupied any of the offices seemed like a stroke of luck that could make things much easier than expected. Rather than picking his way through the nearest to the further, he headed straight for the largest office. He dropped into the plush office chair and got to work breaking into the system for information.

**Alexander Pierce**

**Hydra Executive**

**Tasked with overseeing the research, production and implementation of Project Insight.**

**Search: _Project Insight_**

**File: _Project Insight_**

** Perfect the work started in the Winter Soldier Program. Development of microchip implanted in spinal column to create permanent brainwashing. Early testing shows promise but lacks the ability to truly control the subject. Testing now shows complete control. Issue with deterioration of chip identified. New material found that maintains effectiveness. Testing continues to show success. Subject remains under influence without use of other methods from a wider range. Means of suggestion through the chip enhanced to reduce lag. Towers to distribute signal to chips now in development in all sectors of the city. Construction of towers complete. Simulations show they will be able to handle mass installation of chips. Final testing finds microchips ready for mass production. **

** Focus turned to the means of distribution and installation of microchips into mass population. Anniversary of Tony Stark’s death presents possibility opportunity. Announcement of microchip and free installation in Stark’s honor shows high interest rates. Production will be completed in time to meet demand. Interest continues to remain high. Final announcement of microchip installation to be done the week before. **

**Search: _Winter Soldier Program_**

**File: _Winter Soldier Program_**

** Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes **

** Found injured after invasion of planet completed. Left arm damaged beyond repair. Limb removed and prosthetic installed. Super soldier serum injected during surgery. Vitals improving. Surgery successful. Barnes placed in cryo. **

** Brainwashing sessions started on Barnes. He shows high resistance to current techniques. Testing to continue using stronger methods. Electroshock therapy shown to be quite effective in getting Barnes to comply. Current methods producing positive results. Barnes can be placed in field testing. **

** First field test success. Barnes complied to every order. Issues occurred when pursuing target into Sector Seven. Improvements must be made to prevent future incidences. Recommend replacement of lungs and removal of jaw to install air purification system. Installations approved. Subsequent field tests resulted in injuries to ribs and lower right leg. Both replaced with superior parts to prevent future injuries. Final field tests confirm Barnes capable of carrying out orders without presence of a Handler. Approved for missions. **

** Suggest continuation of Winter Soldier Program with trained military personnel. **

**Search: _Barnes_**

**File: _Barnes, J._**

** Current Status: _Cryo_ **

**Refresh for Update**

** Current Status: _Active_ **

“Shit.”

Since someone obviously knew he got into their systems, he set the computer to purge all information and corrupt the file history. While Hydra would most likely figure out what information he obtained, he could still make it a little harder on them. With his time running out, he rose from the chair to return the way he came. A tall figure stood right in front of the roof access door with a wicked looking weapon held casually in the hands.

It wasn’t exactly a great intellectual leap to determine the menacing figure was none other than the original subject of the Winter Soldier Program. His mechanical left arm stood out with its silver coloration contrasting the black of the rest of his uniform. Hydra’s costume department must have decided that the intimidation factor of the robotic arm warranted the full display, while the leg and ribs remained hidden under the dark ensemble. Of course, short of putting him in a full mask, it was impossible to hide the replaced jaw. What looked like a muzzle covered his face from his neck to the bridge of his nose, but the little wisps of steam coming from the vents made it obvious it was worse than a simple muzzle.

While he stared at Barnes, he slowly made his way toward him with the gun remaining a forgotten object held casually in his hands. It was like watching a predator slowly stalk closer to their prey, except he wasn’t looking at it from an outsider’s perspective. Those cold and empty eyes were focused entirely on him with the intensity of a groomed killer. Clearly, Hydra meant to finish the job this time.

To prevent telegraphing his intentions, he kicked the desk at the Winter Soldier without pulling his leg back to get more momentum. His enhanced strength meant the desk still went flying through the glass windows of the office right at the Winter Soldier. As easily as he kicked it, the Winter Soldier batted it away like a pesky fly buzzing around his head. The information he obtained on the Winter Soldier allowed him to anticipate the easy dismissal, so he could dart into the large conference room. The chair he threw gave him enough time to get around Barnes, but he wouldn’t be able to make it to the roof.

Metal slamming into concrete echoed in the stairwell as he lifted himself over the railing to drop a few floors. Bright lights and a sterile atmosphere greeted him as he sprinted through the corridor of the lower level. At random, he pulled open a door, then quickly shoved a few heavy pieces of furniture in front of it to buy himself a little time. For the second time that night, luck seemed to be in his favor because the room he found himself in appeared to be one of the labs focused on the microchip installation.

“He’s got an implant. They were testing it on him.” The realization had him scrambling to inspect the equipment left out on the tables.

Identifying the device used to install the chip was easy enough because Stark Industries had looked into something similar before scrapping the idea. It took a little playing around to determine what was meant to check the status of the implant once they put it in. When he picked up a tablet like device that had a scanner, it didn’t take much messing around to determine its intended purpose. He swore quietly under his breath at the sight of a chip identification number requirement. Even if he accessed their computers, odds were the only ones with the Winter Soldier’s identification number had a lot more power than a few lower level scientists.

The one chance he might have at get his identification number was finding the location of the head scientist in charge of Project Insight. He hurried over to the computer to pull up the owner’s email and quickly found multiple communications to Armin Zola. Without reading the correspondence, he knew Zola had to be the one in charge of the project. Of all the scientists at Hydra, Zola always put him on edge when they would meet at conferences or other functions. Something about him just seemed off, like he was hiding something behind his awkward exterior.

That information gave him something to look for but going back into the hallway to search for Zola’s office was out of the question. Even if the Winter Soldier didn’t see what floor he went to, the building only had five floors for him to search. One could already be checked off his list and his knowledge of the others gave him a significant advantage over him. Some other way of traveling around the floor would have to be utilized to give himself the best chance of avoiding a confrontation before he discovered the chip code.

As he searched the room for inspiration, a large vent over a desk caught his attention. “It works in movies and video games, that must make it true. Here’s to hoping this doesn’t go incredibly wrong.”

To keep from announcing his presence, he removed the vent cover with the least amount of noise possible, then placed it under the desk. He hoisted himself into the vent and began to move through the ventilation system as quietly as possible. Each time he came to a new cover, he surveyed the room to determine whether it was Zola’s office. It almost looked as though he would have to exit the vent and risk the corridor, but the last room was a large office with degrees and newspaper clippings covering the walls.

Leaving the vent didn’t allow the same consideration to the amount of noise he made, so he slammed his fist against it to knock it out in one blow. It clattered to the ground in a noisy clanging that would attract anything in the vicinity. Like he had in the previous room, he quickly blocked the door with a couple of filing cabinets to slow down the Winter Soldier. It probably wouldn’t survive more than a few hits, but he only needed enough time to find the identification code. He always told Rhodey and Pepper that he liked a challenge.

**Armin Zola**

**Head Scientist**

**Currently implementing Project Insight.**

**Search: _Barnes, J._**

**File: _Project Insight – Barnes, J._**

** Microchip #: _32557038-56_ **

** Status: _Active_ **

** System: _Up-to-date_ **

While he was tempted to read the rest of the report, he ignored it in favor of inputting the number into the tablet. The device let out an obnoxiously loud beep, then pull up the diagnostics to evaluate and shut off the microchip. If it were him installing a chip in a brainwashed super soldier, he would have extra protections to make sure the device couldn’t be shut off so simply. It seemed entirely possible that shutting it off would trigger an emergency system to maintain the control for a short time. Whoever sent the Winter Soldier probably had the control to shutdown the secondary systems in times of emergency. Getting to them was out of the question and keeping him busy long enough for the secondary system to run out would be risky.

All thought of putting together something to disable the secondary system went out the window when door nearly flew open. The next hit pushed the filing cabinets far enough for the door to crack open, then it broke under the force of a heavy boot. Cold eyes bore into his optical units as he stalked across the room with a knife clutched in his human hand.

Instead of backing away, he held he ground until the last possible second, then sidestepped a swing of the knife. While he was tempted to force his way behind him, he waited for the right moment to slip past his defences. The scanner registered the microchip after a brief press against the skin of his neck, giving him access to it. He didn’t have time to disable the primary functioning before the next attack, so he dodged his way around the room. When he worked his way behind Zola’s desk, he took advantage of the chair by slamming it against his side to give him an opening.

The Winter Soldier only paused for a second to throw the chair across the room, which gave him the opening he needed to initiate the shutdown. As he predicted, the device allowed him to stop the primary systems, but a message requested a second validation to complete the process. Even if he could’ve shutdown the secondary system, the Winter Soldier ripped the tablet from his hand to crush it to bits in his mechanical hand. His other hand grabbed him by the throat, then hoisted him off the ground like he weighed nothing more than a feather.

Slamming him into the wall caused it to crack under the pressure and completely gave way when he got smashed against it a second time. While going through a wall before would’ve completely taken him out, his new body allowed him to take advantage of no longer being trapped in a room with the Winter Soldier. As he moved to the left, he crushed the wrist of the hand around his throat until he was forced to let go. The freedom allowed him to sprint down the hall the same way he came in the hopes of reaching the stairwell.

At the same time he burst through the door, he glanced over his shoulder to find the Winter Soldier right on his heels. Arms wrapped around his waist to prevent him from going over the railing and tugged him back before he could force them over. Before he could get pulled too far away, he brought his feet up to the railing to kick off from it. Barnes stumbled from the unexpected momentum causing them to fall to the ground in a tangle of limbs. His new position gave him the opportunity to smash an elbow against his nose, but the muzzle-like attachment meant the blew did nothing.

In return, the Winter Soldier switched their positions, so he was now the one pinned to the floor with a body pressing him into the concrete. He thought Barnes would take the opportunity to pin his arms to his back, then wait for his handler to bring a small army to deal with him. Instead, he got flipped onto his back, so he now looked up into those cold eyes once more. He should’ve considered the possibility of the Winter Soldier’s orders being to kill rather than capture and the obvious power source in his chest shone like a beacon.

“How about we talk this through?” Since getting out from under the Winter Soldier seemed unlikely, his best chance of getting out of there was distracting him until the secondary system ran out. “I’ve been told I’m an excellent negotiator. I also have a feeling what I can offer you is significantly superior to whatever Hydra is giving you. Of course, I don’t have any money because everyone thinks you killed me. That was you, right? An apology would be nice, but I understand if you don’t. It wasn’t your choice to kill me. Hydra gave you the order and that little chip in your spinal cord makes it impossible for you to tell them to fuck off. There’s also the fact I’m clearly not dead. I mean, I’m not exactly human, but what does that matter in the grand scheme of things.”

The typical response wasn’t spat in his face to get him to shut up for once in his life, that didn’t mean the Winter Soldier’s tactic was preferable. Unlike Obadiah, he didn’t take in the same care in releasing the arc reactor before tearing it out of his chest. Metal fingers dug into his chest around the arc reactor to tear the entire thing out. The gold titanium alloy held up against whatever Hydra decided to make his arm out of for a few seconds, until Barnes pressed down with more of his weight to breach the chest plate. Several important connections severed when he fingers dug into the much more sensitive inner workings causing warnings to pop up.

Rather than take the time to consider all of them, he decided to take the risk of firing off a unibeam that would get the Winter Soldier off him. An ugly whirling sound echoed in the stairwell as the arc reactor powered up, but he already knew it wouldn’t work correctly. Something important must have been destroyed as Barnes worked his way further into his chest for a sound like that to occur. Suddenly, a volt of electricity surged through him causing his vision to go out and several of his major systems to falter as he struggled to recalibrate.

When his optical units finally came back online, he found the Winter Soldier staring blankly down at him with his fingers still in his chest. They weren’t attempting to dig further into his chest, just sitting there like he forget how to get them to move. Slowly, they came out of his chest as Barnes moved off him in a daze. He blinked slowly and folded in on himself as if the strings keeping him up had suddenly been cut.

“Barnes? James?”

“Bucky.”

“What?”

“Bucky. I went by… by Bucky.”

While he wanted to sit up, he couldn’t control his limbs well enough to push himself up. “A name is good. That’s a very good start. I’d hate to ruin the whole sudden revelation now you’re no longer under Hydra’s control, but they’ve probably seen all of this and are on their way to ruin everything. We should get out of here before they get here.”

“Where do we go?”

“There’s a waste disposal chute that will dump us into the river. I can direct us there, but you’re going to have to get us there. I’m not exactly fully functional at the moment.”

“Okay.” With surprising care, Bucky slipped his arms under his body, then cradled him against his chest as he stood. “Where to?”

“The chute will be on the lowest floor. Keep going down until you run out of stairs.”

“That’s where they’ll be coming from.”

“Then you better get moving. I’m not exactly going to be useful in a fight.”

As they made their way down the stairs, he listened carefully for any hint of Hydra’s thugs coming to cut them off. A door squeaked open above them at the same time Bucky opened the basement door, then set him on the ground a few steps from the door. Bucky ripped a piece of piping off a nearby machine, then shoved it under the door to make it more difficult to get through. He picked him up into the same carry and started further into the basement floor.

“What now?”

“Following that pipe. It’s the water main. It’ll lead us straight to the chute.”

“How are we going to get in?”

“There will be an access point for maintenance. The bigger problem will be going through the chute without getting wet.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I fixed a lot of problems after I got away from the Ten Rings, but my resources and time have been fairly limited. I haven’t been able to completely fix the water issues, especially with the new hole in my chest. If too much water gets in, all my systems will shut down.”

Without slowing down, Bucky looked down at him. “How do we prevent that from happening?”

“Don’t let any water get in.”

“That’s not very helpful. I won’t know where to go if you’re not around to give me directions.”

“Good to know I’ll be missed. I should’ve created a backup system with J.A.R.V.I.S., but I wasn’t exactly expecting to bring anyone back with me. That makes you sound like a stray I picked up in some alley on my way back from dinner or something. You’re much bigger than a pet.”

“That depends on what type of pet you’re talking about.”

“True, but that’s not the point. The point is we need to come up with a contingency plan for my systems going down. Do you know where Sector Seven is? I’ve got a place set up there. If you can get there, you’ll be able to find it. It’s the only occupied placed there. Your filtration system should keep you safe. That is why they installed it.”

“I know where that it.”

“Good. There’s only one way in there from this sector. Got straight and a little to the left and you’ll eventually find it.”

“It’ll be easier if you’re still functioning.”

“Obviously.” Using one hand, Bucky opened the maintenance hatch that would take them to the chute out of the factory. “Can you cover it up?”

After a few jerky movements, he placed his hand the best he could over the finger shaped holes in his chest. “That’ll do something. I guess.”

“It’s better than nothing. Let me know if water starts to get in.”

* * *

 

“Are you still working?”

“Yes.” He placed his hand on Bucky’s shoulder as he began wadding his way through the shallow water of the lake. “Head further away from all the buildings. They’ll be patrolling the streets. We need to keep putting distance between us.”

“Staying near the water is an unnecessary risk.”

“It’s better than ended up in a fight. Stick in the shallower parts. This lake isn’t exactly known for its depth. It only exists so they can filter the water.”

“Will it get us to the entrance?”

“It’ll get us close. The unguarded entrance is a hatch in the wall someone forget to cover up. I’m sure some intern was put in charge of the job and decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. I don’t really blame them. It would be a waste of time and resources to do something like that.”

“Are you always this talkative?”

“The only friendly conversation I’ve had in the past year was with the AI I created. I think the talkativeness is to be expected.”

Bucky gave a noncommittal hum in response. “What were you looking for? It seems a big risk to break into a Hydra facility by yourself.”

“Information.”

“What information?”

“When someone has you killed, it makes you a little curious as to what it is they’re doing that killing you factors into those plans. I already knew Hydra was into some shady business, but I didn’t expect mind controlling devices. Speaking of controlling devices, we need to get that out of you before they use whatever long range means they have to turn it back on.”

“You think that’s something they have?”

“Even if it isn’t, they’ll be able to turn it on if they get close enough to you. If it were me, I wouldn’t want a ticking mind control bomb in my spine. That might just be personal preference though.”

“We have a mutual preference.”

“Good to know.” Even though he couldn’t feel tired, he rested his head against Bucky’s shoulder as the events of the night began to weigh him down. “So, I haven’t actually asked, but would you be interested in razing Hydra to the ground? It would be for the greater good, and a little revenge never hurt.”

“You won’t be able to do it on your own.”

“I’d figure out a way.”

“How long would that take? You can’t even get your feet wet without shutting down. You’re like the Wicket Witch of the West. A bucket of water is all it takes to defeat you.”

“I’m going to fix that. Also, that reference is extremely dated. What era are you from? That’s pre-evacuation. It’s way before pre-evacuation.”

“My mom liked the classics.”

“Fair enough. So, was that a yes?”

“Yes, but we need a plan. A better plan than getting information.”

“We’ll have plenty of time to come up with one while I fix this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)). You can find Beir on Tumblr ([Beir](https://beir.tumblr.com/)).


	5. Part Four: Phoenix Rising

The projection of his chest floated in front of him looking more like a mess of wires than a complex system keeping him around. Some of it would be easy to fix up but getting his hands on some of the more important parts would be complicated. His typical suppliers would take weeks to get their hands on them, assuming they could find a way to get them. Taking that long would come dangerously close to the release date of the microchips.

“What are our options, J?”

“I have located everything you need, but most of it will need to be taken by force. It is unlikely you could accomplish this in your current state. Someone else would need to do it for you.”

“Cut the sass.” He waved his hand to get rid of the projection, then sat up to face the man patiently waiting for him to finish. Even though he didn’t seem to have a particular goal in mind, he tinkered with a few of the bits he left out. “Hey, Robocop!”

“Should you really be calling me that? I’m not the one made out of metal.”

“It’s an alloy. Gold and titanium to be specific. Also, something I need more of now because of this. Unfortunately, I don’t have bunch of extra hanging around, so…”

“How am I supposed to get more of it?”

“J tells you where to go and who to beat up, then you do your trained assassin thing. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Well, compared to breaking Hydra mind control and getting out of their facility. What do you say?”

Bucky shrugged his shoulders as he set down the bits. “It’ll be difficult to take them down if you can’t move. Do you have any weapons?”

“Do you have a preference?”

“We’re not exactly in a position for that to be a consideration.”

“I’d have to disagree with you there. If we’re going to bring Hydra down, it’s best to come at them with our strengths. Now, I’m not a big fighter, but I know tech. That’s why I created the blasters and a few other toys I have around here. My tech is my strength, so I’m going to use it against them to make them regret thinking they could outsmart me. What do you want to use?”

“A sniper rifle, and this.” He brought up the cybernetic arm and clenched the hand into a fist. “Do you happen to have a sniper rifle?”

“No, but I can make one. I can also upgrade that arm. It might take a few more trips out to get everything.”

“Tell me where to go and I can get whatever it is we need. Better to be prepared, right?”

“That’s what Pep always told me. I didn’t really listen when she said that, and I ended up in this mess, so I’m thinking it’s not a terrible idea to take a page out of her book right now. I’ll give you a communicator to keep in touch with J. He’ll direct you.”

“How am I hauling all of this back?”

“No idea. I’ll leave that part of the plan up to you. There is one more thing I need to do before you go.”

“What?”

After making sure he wouldn’t be punched, he lifted the metal arm up to get a good scan of it to figure out how to upgrade it. “J will tell you want I need to fix this up. Is there anything in particular you would like this baby to do? Spit fire? A hidden knife compartment?”

“You could put a knife compartment?”

“It would take some careful planning to make sure I don’t mess up any of the connections to your hand, but it wouldn’t be difficult.”

“We’ll talk about that later. I’ll be back with what you need.”

“Wait! We also need to deal with that chip.”

“Later.”

“Later might not be an option. Hydra constructed towers all over Marvel-616 to reach all chips once they install them in people. For all we know, those towers are already operational. They could use them to reactivate it.”

“Do you even know why it stopped working?”

“Not exactly. I’d have to take a look at it to get-”

“Then it might not be functional. I’m going out to get the parts you need to fix yourself up, then you can mess around with the chip in my spine.”

“Fine, but don’t blame me when you become Hydra’s puppet again.”

“I won’t have to because it’s not going to happen. Stay right there while I’m gone. I won’t be able to fix you up, so don’t make it worse.”

“J would be able to help you out.”

“We don’t have the time for me to fix you. Stay there.”

“Only because you have a point.”

* * *

 

When he replaced the last connection, all the warnings that he silenced at the Hydra facility finally stopped nagging in the background. The lack of control to his legs gradually returned as the connection allowed the data to quickly reach his major components. Experimentally he bent his knees, then tested the range of motion to make sure nothing else needed replacing. As he sat up, he ran several diagnostics that found issues while he waited for Bucky to return with the parts.

“Did I do everything right?”

“I’m not finding any issues. I’ll need to run a longer calibration after I collect some more data on my current functioning. There’s nothing to be concerned about, which means we can focus on getting that chip out of you. J, have you been able to run a scan to determine where it’s located and how to remove it.”

“Yes, sir. It appears Hydra carved out a space to insert a device that connects to the spinal cord. They then insert the chip into the device that sends the signal responsible for the brain washing effect. Removal of the chip is all that’s necessary to prevent them from taking control of Mr. Barnes’s mind again.”

“How is the chip removed?”

“There appears to be a release button for easy removal. It seems Hydra wanted to make it easy in case chips were damaged, defective, or a better option became available.”

“Sounds easy enough.” Bucky obviously didn’t agree with him on that. “Look, I might not be a doctor, but I know some of the basics and J has access to medical information. I’ll cut deep enough to get to the chip, remove it, then stitch you right back up. Easy.”

“That’s not an issue.”

“What isn’t?”

After a slight hesitation, Bucky turned around and lifted his hair to expose the back of his neck. Instead of skin, the face plate wrapped all the way around to the back of his head, then disappeared down the collar. While it hadn’t been mentioned in any of the files he read, at some point Hydra decided that reinforcing the spinal column was another necessary procedure to make the Winter Soldier a better tool. Even though his hand reached out, he quickly dropped it before he could do something stupid.

“That does make things much easier. I didn’t find anything about this in the files. Is there something I should be concerned about? Pressing the shutdown button could really put a damper on our plans. Also, I’d have to go back to only having myself and an AI I created to talk to.”

“They didn’t tell me how it works.”

“Right. J, pull up the scans you did.” A holographic version of Bucky’s spinal column and lower face appeared in the air before him. After a few minutes of picking it apart, he waved it away and took a step closer to Bucky. “They did install a kill switch in the system to prevent anyone that got their hands on you from tapping into your neural processors to get your memories. Obviously, they didn’t want anyone to know their dirty secrets or figure out how to do what they did to you. It won’t be complicated to keep from triggering it. If you want me to completely get rid of it, I’ll need to plug into your systems to have the best chance of not setting it off in the process.”

“What happens if you do set it off?”

Even though Bucky couldn’t see, he shrugged his shoulders before he started speaking. “Both of us probably die.”

“Oh, is that all? In that case, go ahead and do it. Why not risk it?”

“There’s no reason to break out the sarcasm. Believe me, I understand the urge. It’s a fantastic defence mechanism. However, there is a legitimate reason to consider doing it despite the risk. Hydra could use it against you. My guess would be, they didn’t make it a pleasant death. So, do you want me to get rid of it?”

“No. Taking them down is more important than shutting it off. If we’re still alive at the end of all this, I’ll let you poke around until you figure out how to do it without putting both of us at risk. Deal?”

“Square deal. Ready to get this chip out?”

“No, but I doubt I ever will be. Just do it.”

“Think of something better, like my handsome face. I’m sure that’ll be the perfect distraction.” At first, he put almost non-existent pressure on Bucky’s spine, which caused him to immediately tense up. As he slowly started to relax, he applied a little more pressure until he released the panel. “I’m about to start digging around in here. You’ll probably feel some strange sensations while I’m doing this, but I need you to stay relaxed. Any movement could cause me to accidentally set off the kill switch, so stay calm.”

“Get it over with.”

Instead of responding, he reached into the spinal cavity with a cautious hand to avoid the different pressure points Hydra installed. When he brushed against the release mechanism, he waited a second to make sure nothing unexpected happened. After pressing the button, a low hiss emitted from the slot as it pushed out the chip. Just as carefully as he entered, he exited with the chip held between his forefinger and thumb.

“All done! Shop is closed for business.” While Bucky rubbed at the back of his neck, he slid around the front to be able to look him in the eye. “Would you like to do the honors? I’ve got all kinds of fun ways that you can destroy. I’ll even let you use the blasters. One time offer.”

Before he could offer up any other ideas, Bucky grabbed the chip and crushed it in his metal hand. “That’s handled. What’s the plan now?”

“To hit Hydra for good, we’ll need to attack their main office in Sector One. It’ll take a lot of fire power and planning to accomplish that, which means I’m going to need more supplies than I’ve got. Want to fulfil your lifelong dream of being an errand boy?”

The deadpan expression and flat tone Bucky gave him had him resisting the urge to laugh. “How did you know?”

“You’ve got that look about you that just screams errand boy. I’ll get your next list ready, so you have idea of what you’re looking for, but feel free to grab anything that looks interesting.”

“I’ll be sure to do that.”

* * *

 

Once he put the finishing touch on the newest toy he thought up, he placed it aside as he checked the time to find several hours had passed since he last looked. “Any news yet?”

“News about what?” Two bags filled with supplies dropped onto the table, then Bucky did the same onto a chair. “Looks like you’ve been busy. What have you come up with now?”

“It’s a magnetized smoke grenade. I’ve created a remote start for it, so we could place these on any metal surface and detonate them from a distance. It might not come in handy, but it’s better to have it than not. What have you brought for me?”

“Everything you asked for and a few extra things I saw on my way out that I didn’t think they’ll need anymore. They might not come in handy but it’s better to have it than not.”

“Funny. How’s the arm holding up? Nothing bugging you? Anything locking up?”

“It works fine.”

Before continuing to dig through the bags, he made sure Bucky saw him roll his eyes at his response. “Fine? That’s it? When I create something, my goal isn’t for it to work fine. If there’s something that can be improved, you have to tell me. I’m not going to go digging around in it to see what I can change for fun.”

“The arm is fine. My leg could use some work. They must not have done maintenance on it in a while. There’s a grinding noise sometimes and I keep losing feeling.”

“Do you want to do this here or do you want to get in the fun time chair?”

“Here.” A dark expression passed so quickly he might have missed it if he still had to blink, then he brought his foot up to rest on the table. “Does this work?”

“We’ll make it. Any other body parts giving you a hard time? I’m not a surgeon, but I might be able to figure something out.”

“No, just the leg.”

“Then we better get that fixed. I’m almost finished with the rifle. There are still a few balancing issues I need to work out, that’ll take no time at all. I’ve also thought of a way to fix the water issue I’ve been having. It involves nanotech, which is going to be even more difficult to construct when I’m not working in a state-of-the-art facility. J and I have come up with a few ways to get past that roadblock. It should only take a few days, so we’ll still be on schedule.”

“What did you do before all this?”

To keep from having to answer immediately, he bent a little closer to make Bucky think his silence and the question weren’t correlated. “When my father came here with the original colonist, he used his inheritance to establish himself as the leading weapons manufacturer. The government contracted him to supply the army with weapons, gear, explosives, and the list goes on. He made his made in war. After he died, I was his only heir. That made me responsible for a company that still made most of its money by making weapons. Of course, the government still send out expeditions to avoid the same panic from happening again, but I saw the weapons I created in the hands of gangs and terrorist organizations. I had been designing for years and never knew, until that moment. I decided to change the company.”

“To do what?”

“Anything that would help people on this planet. Agricultural and medical advancements, energy efficiency projects, disaster relief. The people I employed would come to me with ideas and I’d give them the money to help bring them to life as long as I thought it was ethical and possible. Whenever I could, I spoke for the better working and living conditions for people, but Hydra had other plans. Before I could completely switch the company over, they came for me.”

“That’s why they killed you?”

“My business partner worked for Hydra. He told them I’d never agree to whatever they had planned, so when I finished being useful to him, he told them to kill me. I ended up with the Ten Rings as an android, but they weren’t equipped to handle an advanced machine like that. They wanted me to create weapons to help with their plans. I just used what they brought me to upgrade my own systems to get out of there. I also blew up their base on the way out for good measure.”

“I don’t remember Hydra getting me. I don’t remember much of anything before you shut off the chip. The bits and pieces I do remember aren’t exactly pleasant.”

“You remember some of what they did to you?”

“Yes.”

A heavy silence filled the room that was only broken by the occasional sound of his tools working to fix Bucky’s leg. While his time with the Ten Rings hadn’t been pleasant, he couldn’t begin to imagine all the horrors Bucky went through during his years with Hydra. Even a brief look at their files on him made it clear they hadn’t cared whether their experimenting ended in his death. They probably kept their eyes on any potential candidates that could take his place in the case he ended up killed. The Winter Soldier program had recommended expanding. They could have a room of frozen brainwashed soldiers waiting to be deployed.

“What did you do for fun?”

“Hm?”

“What did you do for fun?”

“Create things. I had a few bots I made.”

“Like you?”

He couldn’t help laughing at how innocent the question sounded. “No. They didn’t look like people. They were just parts I had around that I decided to turn into something. That did have very unique personalities. DUM-E was responsible for the fire extinguisher. I cannot tell you the number of times he sprays me with it when it wasn’t even necessary. I recreated them when I came here.”

“Why didn’t you make an android?”

“I thought about it a few times, but there were always more important things to do than that. The closest I ever got was J.A.R.V.I.S. I created him when I first became CEO of Stark Industries.”

“Is this the same…”

“No. I don’t have access to Stark Industries private server that I put him on. When I first got here after getting away from the Ten Rings, I wasn’t sure where to begin. After setting things up, I programmed him to make sure I had someone to purge all my data if something happens to me.”

“Why didn’t you go back after you got away? People would’ve known you weren’t dead when you showed back up.”

“I didn’t want to put the people I care about at risk. If someone’s going to kill a public figure, they’re either stupid enough to get caught or powerful enough that they could take the risk. I’ve seen enough people go missing or found dead to know that it’s more likely to be the second. I needed to find out who was responsible for trying to kill me without them knowing I was looking for them.”

“They know now.”

“We’ll see how much good that will do them.”

* * *

 

“Are you sure you should be doing that?”

He glanced up from his work to find Bucky leaning across the table to get a better look at his work. “Shouldn’t you be doing push ups and sweating all over the place to keep in top assassin shape? You’re going to lose your touch if you don’t practice.”

“That’s not an issue. I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive.”

“Wow. I can’t believe you would date yourself like that. Trust me, you don’t look a day over a hundred. What’s your secret?”

“Cryostasis.”

“I have heard that’s a very effective way to live longer.”

“Who would’ve guessed.” As he leaned backwards, Bucky crossed his arms over his chest and propped his feet up on the table. “So, should I be sitting this close to you while you mess with that? I’d rather not get another part replaced.”

“It’s perfectly safe. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Because you have trust issues due to your time spent with a terrorist organization that brain washed you into doing their bidding and put you through unnecessary surgeries. It’s completely understandable.”

“Pretty sure it has more to do with your habit of blowing things up that I didn’t think possible.”

“Once. It happened once.”

The expression on Bucky’s face made it clear he didn’t believe for a second, he wasn’t capable of blowing things up all the time. “We’ll see if that holds up. Since you’re busy trying not to blow us up, what can I do?”

“Have you tested the newest modifications for your sniper rifle?”

“Yes, I did that earlier. I also tested the body armor like you asked.”

“Someone had a productive morning. Was that the morning? I haven’t been keeping up with what day or time it is. Pep used to get pissed at me for going on work binges, but now I don’t need to sleep.”

“You still have to recharge your batteries.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke because it wasn’t funny. In fact, it was the opposite of funny. I’d go so far as to call it pathetic.”

“No need to be so grumpy.” After stretching his impressive arms over his head and curving his body out to get his back muscles, Bucky rose from the chair. “Since your busy with that, I’m heading out to do more scrapping. I’ll let you know if I find anything useful.”

“Try not to get caught while you’re out there. I don’t have time to plan out a rescue operation. We only have a few more days until we move on Hydra.”

“Don’t worry about me. I know how not to get caught. It’s why people don’t know Hydra had an assassin they would send out to kill people that would get in their way.”

“Excuse me for questioning your super sneaky assassin skills. I’m sure you can blink right into the shadows. You’ve got the whole edgy goth wearing all black thing going on. I’m sure you can just flip your hair in front of your face, so no one will see your eyes. I could always make you some goggles to cover that up. They’ll be all black. Promise.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“So I’ve been told. Let me know if you want those goggles. Actually, I’m going to make them for you. I’ve added a few upgrades to my optical units that would benefit a sniper.”

“Focus on figuring out the water problem. I’m not dragging you all the way back here if they dump water on you.”

“We both know that’s a lie.”

“Do you really want to test that theory?”

“No. And for your information, I almost have that problem fixed. J is running the last test as we speak. If the results from that are positives, I’ll be able to move on to android trails.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“I’ll do it anyway because we’re running out of time and some protection is better than no protection. Now, shoo. You’re distracting me.”

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

“Can’t. You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

* * *

 

Experimentally, he dipped his fingers in the glass of water Bucky put down on his work bench at some point. When no sparks started flying or warnings popped up, he peeled back a portion of his exterior to expose his inner parts. The nanobots covering the materials sensitive to the water tightened up to make sure none of it got through. As he removed his finger from the water, he shook it off to get the excess off.

“It worked.”

“On a small scale, but I need to consider the possibility of ending up in a situation that involves a much larger body of water. Luckily, I have the perfect way to test that out.”

“Are you sure you should be jumping from a finger dip in a glass of water to immersing yourself in water?”

“Why are you always questioning my scientific processes? I’ve been doing things like this my entire life and it’s always worked out perfectly fine.” He paused in the middle of undoing the hatch to the water tank and tipped his head thoughtfully to the side. “Actually, always might be a bit of a strong word. There may have been a few incidences that resulted in a scar or two, but a majority of the time everything went fine.”

“That’s not instilling me with a lot of confidence. I still get the feeling you’re about to do something dangerous and stupid.”

“First of all, rude. I take great offensive to that. This is not dangerous or stupid. Second of all, I’m not asking for your permission, so your thoughts on the matter don’t change what’s about to happen. Third of all, if something does happen, feel free to say I told you so because I will be saying it when I come out of this in the exact same condition I went in.”

“Go ahead then.”

With a sharp tug, the lid to the water tank lifted away to reveal the dirty water that filled it. Despite the fact he couldn’t get ill from it, the look of it still caused a moment of hesitation over whether he should really go in. To hide his indecision, he slowly removed his suit so there wouldn’t be anything between his exposed inners and the water. Once he had enough exposed, he took a step off the lip of the water tank.

The murky water flooded inside of his body as he sank to the bottom of the tank. As quickly as the water rushed in, the nanobots worked to protect all the areas that could’ve been damaged. Before he got out, he knew one more experiment needed to be run to make sure they would work no matter what. After making sure the opened sections wouldn’t close, he rebooted his systems to ensure the nanobots worked while he wasn’t operational.

System Restart…

10%

32%

57%

77%

89%

94%

99%

System Restart Complete

“Tony? Tony? Tony?” When his visual systems all came back, he found Bucky looking down at him with concern etched into his face. “Tony? Can you hear me?”

“Why do you look so worried?”

“J.A.R.V.I.S. said you turned your systems off. What were you thinking?”

“I had to be sure it worked even when I didn’t have control over it. It’s better to make sure it works here than find out in the middle of a fight.”

Bucky’s eyebrows wrinkled up in frustration as he helped him to sit up. “It was completely unnecessary. Our plan won’t work if only one of us is functioning. You’ve spent a lot of time making sure I’m upgraded, that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly capable of stopping Hydra on my own. We need each other for this.”

“And we’re both going to be there to see their plans ruined. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

“Maybe so.”

“Bucky,” He tentatively brought a hand up to rest on Bucky’s shoulder, then looped one of his arms around his neck when he leaned into his touch. “stop thinking so much.”

His lips brushed over the cool metal Bucky’s lower face, then he pulled slightly away to catch Bucky’s eye. The lack of emotion slowly changed to a swirl of so many he didn’t have time to decipher them all before Bucky closed the distance between them. Steam from the facial plate filled his mouth causing his sensors to go haywire at the unfamiliar sensation. Arms around his waist tightened and encouraged him to shift higher up on his knees, so he had a slight height advantage. He shifted his hand from Bucky’s shoulder to lightly brushing his fingertips against his jaw.

When they pulled away, steam swirled between them as Bucky worked to get his breathing back under control. Since he didn’t want to break the silence, he remained silent with his hand now running through Bucky’s hair. Once his breathing returned to normal, Bucky began to move a hand slowly up and down his back in long strokes.

“Please tell me this wasn’t because we might die soon.”

A soft pressure against his chin coaxed him to bring his head back up to look directly in Bucky’s eyes. “It wasn’t.”

“You have such a way with words.”

“Not all of us can be chatterboxes.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

* * *

 

“Ready for this?” While he would’ve been concerned of Bucky’s reaction not long ago, he knew Bucky would know what he was planning before he even leaned over his shoulder to get a better look at what he was doing. “I’ve got everything I’ll need.”

“Yes. Let’s get going.”

“Time to end this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)). You can find Beir on Tumblr ([Beir](https://beir.tumblr.com/)).


	6. Part Five: Annihilation

  
Bright neon lights reflected off the windows of the Hydra building, giving it a sinister glow in the middle of Sector One. It’s proximity to other buildings meant a significant lack of patroling guards outside the building unlike their facility in Sector Eight. Unfortunately, it was also much taller, which mean they wouldn’t be able to come in from the top and work their way down. Dumping their plans online, then destroying their data would mean going to the top floor to access Alexander Pierce’s computer. No one else would have all the information or a way to destroy it all in a time of crisis.

“Where’s this secret entrance they always had you go through?”

“Right here.” After pressing in an almost invisible notch in the marble, a door popped out of side that led into a dimly lit corridor. “The door alerts them when it’s open. They’ll check the cameras and see we’re here.”

“Which we planned for.”

“Stick close to me. We don’t want to get separated.”

“Roger that.”

They stuck close to the wall on the way down the corridor, until a door at the end suddenly opened. A beam of light shone in behind the figure standing in the middle of the doorway. Their large stature cast an intimidating shadow along the floor that seemed to stretch out toward them. In their hands, they held a weapon similar to the one Bucky had in the facility.

“Is that another one of the Winter Soldiers?”

“No idea.”

“Shouldn’t we swap positions? I’m the one made completely out of metal.”

“It won’t make a difference.”

Suddenly, the person charged toward them at a speed impossible to reach without the aid of the serum running through Bucky’s veins. The fist they threw at Bucky’s face was caught by his metal hand easily enough, but he didn’t get the chance to warn Bucky about the augmentations he noticed. A spark of electricity shot through Bucky’s arm, causing the entire arm to go completely slack at his side. The Winter Soldier tried to take advantage of the weakness, only for his plans to be dashed.

A blast to the shoulder sent them to the floor, which was helpful, but not what he expected from a shot so close. The augmentations they made to this Winter Soldier were more extensive than he originally thought. While the gun lay forgotten on the floor, that didn’t make them any less dangerous as they jumped off the floor. After dodging several punches aimed at his head and sides, he dropped down to swipe their feet out from under them. Their heavy body hit the floor with a thud, then their skull cracked against the floor.

“They’re not getting up any time soon. Do you-” The echo of a shot rang out through the corridor from behind him. Blood pooled on the floor under the head of the now dead Winter Soldier on the floor. “Isn’t that a waste of a bullet?”

“Better one now than multiple later. We can’t be sure how long they would’ve stayed unconscious. It’s best to get them out of the way now. Come on. We need to keep moving.”

“Right behind you.”

They stepped around the body on their way to the door left open wide enough for them to see a good portion of the room it led into. Around Bucky’s large frame, he could make out some examination tables and various pieces of equipment. From the secret door to the long hallway to the examination room, the whole thing made him feel like he was on his way along an assembly line. He could only imagine how Bucky felt and the memories their process might be sparking up in his spotty memory.

After taking a peek into the room, Bucky slowly nudged the door further open with the muzzle of his gun until it hit the wall. When he took his first several steps, his head swivelled around to make sure no one waited in the corners to take them by surprise. Even though Bucky went straight for the door, he broke off to check one of the computers sitting on a counter. It only took a few seconds to get into the system, which gave him access to information on the Winter Soldier locations. Each of them had the same status information that Bucky’s had, making it easy to determine the ones that could be a threat.

“What are you doing? We need to go now.”

“There’s four Winter Soldiers active. Our friend in the hall is already showing as deceased in their systems. There are three more that are inactive. There’s no telling whether they’re inactive because they’re not operational or they haven’t decided to wake them up yet. I could leave a monitoring system in there, but it’ll be a bit risky.”

“Don’t bother. That’s plenty of information.”

Quickly, he wiped all the data on the computer, then followed Bucky into the type of hallway you’d expected in an evil organization’s buildings. The floors were made of black marble, the walls slopped into an arch at the top, every turn they made felt like going deeper into an inescapable labyrinth. The way the light caught the floor sometimes caused him to think someone was about to come around the corner. It reminded him of the old sci-fi horror movies his mom used to watch with him whenever they had a night alone together.

“Wait.” It didn’t matter that he barely picked up the words Bucky whispered out because a hand reached out behind him to act as a barrier. “There’s something there.”

“What kind of something?”

“Not human. Don’t know what it is.”

“Let me see.”

Being careful not to make any sound, he edged around Bucky to get a look at whatever stood in their way. Thing seemed the best way to describe it. Bucky was right about it not being human, at least not completely human. Most of it appeared to be mechanical, but he could see parts of it that looked organic. Some kind of bluish ooze dripped from it, leaving a slimy trail in its wake.

“It’s mostly mechanical. I have something that should work.” He removed a shock disk from his pouch that he threw right onto one of the large mechanical pieces. The voltage ticked up when it didn’t do anything to the thing, until it dropped to the floor in a clatter. “Be careful. Knowing Hydra, that thing’s rigged to blow.”

They barely got the chance to take a step when something hit him in the side hard enough it almost lodged into him. Before the next one could do what the first couldn’t, Bucky dragged him to the ground by the back of his shirt. He expected Bucky to launch at the person that dropped out of the vents in front of them, but he rolled them to the other side of the hall. A bullet struck the ground right where they had been before Bucky got them out of the way.

While Bucky focused on the one that dropped out of the vent, he ran for the one still staring them down through the scope of their gun. Instead of dodging the bullets, they hit weak parts on humans and bounced right off his reinforced body. The Winter Soldier waited too long to lower the gun, so he disarmed them during their moment of indecision. Like the first one, the one before him had augmentations to cover some of the same vulnerable spots they tried to use against him. Rather than aim for a crippling spot, he followed Bucky’s lead from earlier and put a bullet right in the middle of their forehead.

When he turned to Bucky, he wasn’t surprised to find him pulling his knife out of the neck of his Winter Soldier. “Two more down.”

“Don’t celebrate it yet. We’re still on the first floor.”

“Think we should take the vent? It worked out well for that one, until they decided to try to kill us.”

“Just because they’ll let them through the vents, doesn’t mean they won’t turn on whatever traps they have once they know we’re in there. Do you really want to risk it?”

“When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound nearly as tempting.”

“Taking the stairs it is.”

* * *

 

“How are you doing on bullets?” He pressed himself further back to make sure the spray of bullets didn’t hit him. “Also, where does Hydra have their boot camps because that is a small army! Why do they even need that many people?”

“Maybe, it’s because someone decided to break into one of their other facilities, found out what they were working on, then got away. Doubling or tripling security after that makes a lot of sense.”

“Did I ask you to bring logic into this?”

Bucky rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t you have something to deal with all of them?”

“That depends on whether we want to ensure we can keep going to the security office or risk taking them all out under some cover.”

“Smoke grenade?”

“They’ll probably keep firing, which means they could accidentally hit us or each other.”

“Use it.”

“You’ll need these.” After tossing Bucky the goggles, he threw the grenade into the middle of them and watched it latch onto one. A plume of smoke billowed from the device steadily filling the hallway to the point it was so thick they wouldn’t be able to see. Their gun fire suddenly stopped, which gave them the perfect opportunity to charge into the smoke without taking unnecessary hits.

Over the sound of them talking to each other, they didn’t hear some of them getting knocked unconscious until they had a good chunk of them down. A flurry of shots aimed for where they thought the two of them were sent the chaos skyrocketing. Most of the bullets missed everyone entirely, except a few that ended up in their own soldiers. One suddenly dropped in front of him, almost causing him to trip. He ended up knocking into someone else to avoid falling flat on his face, who whipped their gun up to aim at his head. Their finger never got the chance to pull the trigger because a bullet went through their head before they had the chance.

“Be more careful.”

Someone moved behind Bucky that he quickly shot with a blaster, so Bucky didn’t get hurt. “I need to be careful? Can we call it even now?”

“Security office.”

“I’ll take that as agreement that we are even.” A door marked with security on it appeared as they turned the corner as did a Winter Soldier. This one looked to be built like a tank: broad shoulders, legs like tree trunks, a thick torso. “We should’ve just blown the hallway.”

“Too late now.”

“How do you plan on handling this one? I’m pretty sure they’re bigger than both of us combined.”

“Only one set of eyes.”

“That’s not much of a plan.”

“We get behind their back. It’s not that difficult.”

“You say that now, but don’t come crying to me when you get thrown through a wall.”

“Didn’t plan on it.”

Instead of letting Bucky take the lead on this one, he walked down the hall with his hands raised in a passive gesture. A sinister smile twisted on the Winter Soldier’s face as they stomped toward him-their eyes cruelly gleaming in delight. When he got close enough they could grab him, he fired off a beam from the arc reactor that barely caused him to do more than take a few steps back. Fortunately, it did give Bucky the perfect opening to get behind their opponent and wrap his arms around their neck. Even though he cut off their airway, the Winter Soldier continued to buck and throw body parts back to knock him off.

When he moved to punch them, the Winter Soldier spun and slammed Bucky against the wall hard enough he heard it crack. Despite the hard hit, Bucky’s grip on their neck stayed so tight their face started to turn red from lack of air. Rather than try punching them again, he grabbed the arms that flailed wildly around and pinned them down. A foot kicked out at him to try to get him off, but he easily stepped out of the way of the poor attempt. A few more seconds of choking him was all it took for him to titter, then fall unconscious on the floor.

“What was that about my plan not working?”

“Those words never came out of my mouth. Plus, you did nearly go through the wall.”

After giving him a shrug, Bucky rolled his shoulders a few times. “It wasn’t that bad. Security is all yours.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have. It’s what I always wanted.”

“How long is this going to take?”

“It depends on their systems. I haven’t had trouble with everything else I’ve gone through, but I would think their security has some of the best protection on it. Of course, I might be giving them too much credit. This is the same organization that gave me to a terrorist group that couldn’t handle a dishwasher, let alone the android body they put me in.”

“Get in there. I’m sure more of them are on the way.”

“I would be disappointed if they weren’t.”

* * *

 

“There’s something ahead.”

“I’m shocked.”

“Quiet.”

“Tony Stark,” The familiar voice had him standing ramrod straight as he waited impatiently for what he would say next. “they told me you would come. I’ve been waiting for this moment. I’m sure you thought you killed me, but all you left were some scars.”

Even though Bucky tried to stop him, he pushed forward to find Raza waiting for him in the middle of the hall. A burn mark covered the side of his face and the eye that used to be there was replaced by a metal patch. When he took a step forward, a slight limp and strange stiffness of his arm told him the obvious damage to the side of his face extended further down. While he expected him to pull on gun on him, his hands remained laxed at his side as he drew closer to him.

“It’s a funny thing. I expected you to play an integral role in allowing us to finally fulfil our mission and you completely tore us apart from the inside.”

“You’ve got a strange sense of humor if you think that’s funny. Most people get pissed off when you ruin their evil plans. At least, that’s what the entertainment industry taught me. I know they get a lot of things wrong, but I was sure that wasn’t one of them.”

“You taught me an important lesson. I tried to force things and was punished for it. The same mistake will not be made again. Before I can continue my work, there is one thing I need to do.”

“I don’t know if anyone ever told you this, but it’s never a good idea to plan your future completely around someone else. You never know when something unexpected is going to happen. You’ve got to live your life for yourself.”

“Interesting advice coming from a machine.”

“What can I say? With death, comes wisdom.”

The slightest movement alerted him to the object suddenly heading for him that he hadn’t seen Raza remove from its hiding place. His strike to the wrist caused him to release his hold on it sending it skidding across the floor. Raza didn’t bother to spare it a glance because he already had another heading right for his face. He grabbed his wrist just in time to keep it from touching him, then twisted it until he heard an audible snapping of the bone. There was no screaming or even a wince of pain from Raza at the broken bone.

“There was another important lesson that I learned in my dealings with you. Adaptability is essential to success. Hydra found me among the rubble and gave me a few different options. Before, I never would’ve allowed them to alter my body in such a way, but your influence convinced me to not shy away from such things. It is incredible what these scientists create.”

“What did you let them do to you?”

Instead of answering with words, Raza lifted his broken wrist up, then used his other hand to twist it back into place. “They weren’t able to heal the damage already done, but they could enhance my healing for the future.”

“What did they want in return?”

“Something I was more than willing to give them.”

“Which is?”

“Your head.”

A hand snapped out to grab him around the throat and lifted him off his feet to slam him into the nearest wall. Since he didn’t need oxygen, he could focus on trying to claw the hand off him to get free rather than trying to breathe. When he couldn’t get it off, he decided to try a completely different tactic to free himself. With his feet already off the ground, it was easy to bring his legs up between their bodies, so he could use them to push against Raza. After a few shoves, his hold went slack enough for him to get out of it with one more push of his legs.

While his new spot on the floor wasn’t ideal, it gave him the perfect chance to take out Raza’s legs. He slammed his feet hard into one of his shins, then kicked at the inside of his other knee when he dipped down. Raza hit the floor in a heap of limbs that twisted around to help him roll onto his knees. Before Raza could get far, he kicked out once again right at his cheek. His head snapped to the side causing him to lose balance and fall back onto the floor. He quickly straddled his back with his legs keeping Raza’s arms pinned to his sides.

“It seems you and Hydra are going to be disappointed. The thing is only one of us can get revenge and I don’t intent to let either of you come out on top. You all thought you got rid of my humanity, but it doesn’t matter what body I’m in. I have more humanity in my left robotic pinky than all of you put together. Hydra made a big mistake by giving me to you. Their chance to successfully brain wash this planet went out the window when they did that. I’m going to make them pay for it.”

“They are bigger than you. Cut off one head-” He grabbed both sides of Raza’s face, then quickly snapped his head around to break his neck.

“Two more shall take their place. Or so they say. I don’t believe in mythology. We’ll find out today which ones of us is right.”

* * *

 

The top floor of the tower appeared suspiciously empty when they finally stepped out of the stairwell into a giant space. Unlike the lower floors, there weren’t any cubicles or hallways with doors leading into separate work areas. The whole thing was one large room lit by the lights streaming in through the windows lining the entire thing. They cast any eerily glow that barely illuminated the figure sitting casually at the only desk in the space.

After several long seconds of silence, they stepped further into the room with their eyes focused on the man. He sat up a little straighter as they approached and adjusted the tie like it mattered how he looked to the two people that just killed their way up to him. When they got close enough to almost touch the desk, he pushed out of his chair with his hands clasped behind his back. While he didn’t know him well, the few encounters he had with Alexander Pierce always made him feel like something was lurking just below the surface.

“I have to say, gentlemen, I wasn’t expecting you to make it this far. I’ve been watching you. The two of you work well together for a pair that have only known each other a short time. It’s quite impressive.”

“Can’t say I was expecting to get compliments from you.”

“Come on, Mr. Stark.” Pierce turned his back on them to look out the window, which gave him a perfect view of Sector One. “We both know that this place is falling into ruin. We’re destroying this planet faster than we can build. If we don’t do something about this now, we’ll be forced to inhabit another. There was enough difficulty finding this one. It’s better to find a solution now.”

“And you think the solution is controlling people?”

“It’s not like we’re going to micromanage the lives of every citizen. No one has the time for that, but you have to admit things would be better if we got rid of those habits that cause this world so much damage. We have a responsibility as those able to look at things from a different angle, to enact solutions that others could only dream of implementing. Changes come from those willing to make the hard decisions.”

“Yes, I can see how so much power is such a hard decision to make. It must keep you up at night.”

“What would you suggest? Let people continue to ruin things?”

“Give them the opportunity to make their lives better. How many of your own employees are barely able to survive? How many of them live in ruin because they don’t have any other option? Do you know why people will willingly take what you’re offering them? Because we’ve failed to give them access to basic necessities. We live in decadence, while they struggle to get by. The scales have always been tipped in our favor.”

With a sigh, Pierce turned back around. “You have so much faith in people, but it’s misplaced. These people had the chance to make a better life for themselves and they failed. Now, it’s our job to pick up the pieces. It’s our burden to bare.”

“The fact you think of them as a burden makes it clear you don’t care about anything but the power you’ll get.”

“I’m sorry you see it that way. Unfortunately, you’re too late to change things. The chips will begin being distributed tomorrow. Things will change. Since you won’t change your mind, I’m going to have to keep your mouth shut.” He was so absorbed in what Pierce was saying, he didn’t have time to get out of the way of the bullet he shot him with. Unlike the others, it didn’t bounce off the armor coating, but stuck to him and send a wave of something through him. He lost all control of his body causing him to fall to the floor. “Zola came up with this after the facility you stole information from. I knew you’d add some upgrades, but he thought of a few things you’d let slip.”

A gun cocking echoed in the room, then Bucky appeared in his line of vision. “What did you do?”

“It’s tearing him apart. He’ll be nothing more than scarps by the time it finishes. Now, I suggest you put down the gun. It’s a miracle the two of you got up here. One of you won’t be able to get out.”

“You expect me to stay here and let you turn me back into a Winter Soldier?”

“What else do you plan to do? Even if you kill me, they’ll fill you full of bullet holes before you can get off this floor. Isn’t staying alive better?”

“No.” Blood splattered against the window from where the bullet exited the back of Pierce’s skull. “Tony?”

“Need… Need to destroy files.”

Instead of going to Pierce’s computer, he knelt down next to him with his hand hovering over the thing in his chest. “What do I do?”

“Don’t bother. The files. Get onto his computer. Dump everything on the internet. Initiate a mass purge. It’ll… It’ll wipe all the date from share drives.”

“I don’t know how to do that!”

“Pocket. USB.”

“What do I do with it?”

“Plug it in. Run the file.”

“I-” Even though his optical units were going haywire, he could still make out the vague outline of Bucky’s form. “What am I supposed to do after this runs?”

“Get out. They’ll be swarming the building, but I’ve got a line you should be able to use to get to another building.”

“What about you?”

“Take the arc reactors. Everything else will be destroyed.”

“Tony-”

He reached out blindly for Bucky, who grabbed his hand in one of his own. “We knew it was a possibility, but we can’t let it be a waste. Take the bastards down. No other people will have to go through what you do. Right?”

“Dumping the information, then purge everything.”

“Exactly. Just run the file and it’ll do all the hard work. It’s that sim-”

Warning

System Shutdown Imminent

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)). You can find Beir on Tumblr ([Beir](https://beir.tumblr.com/)).


	7. Epilogue

“I’m not sure I’m doing this right. Are you sure this is right?”

“I can assure you, Mr. Barnes. You’ve done everything correct. All you need to do is put the power source in.”

Long strands of hair fell into his face when he shook his head. “If you say so. I always liked building things, but this seems a little advanced for a beginner. When I agreed to learn, I thought I’d start with something easier.”

“The car you found is still in good enough condition to be fixed up. It can be your next project. Does that seem more fitting for your skill level?”

“No idea, but I’m sure I’ll find out.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try.”

“Depends on what you’re trying.” He held the energy source uncertainly in his hand as he debated whether it was really ready to be put in.

“How long are you going to stand their contemplating your life? Just put it in already. I think I’ve waited long enough.”

Bucky sent him a glare, then shooed him away with a hand that went right through him. “Won’t it take longer if putting this in ruins it? Maybe, you should be patient for once in your life. Have you ever thought of that, Tony?”

“You know, people always tell me that. The problem is patience is a virtue that I don’t have. Put the arc reactor in. Even if it does screw something up, we were going to have to find out somehow.”

“You’re filling me with confidence here.”

“I try. Seriously though, J knows what he’s talking about. You’ve done everything right. Time to experience the success of building your first android.”

“Or a complete failure.”

“Won't know until you try. Stop stalling. I know DUM-E isn't able to put out the fire. I promise that the first thing I'll do when I can touch things again is fix him up. You could even help me.”

After letting out a heavy sigh, Bucky connected the power source, then locked it into place. Without having to ask, J.A.R.V.I.S. initiated a startup to test the systems to make sure nothing overloaded or caught fire. A blue glow slowly began to shine, until it held bright and steady like it had so many months before. A quick look at the systems status J.A.R.V.I.S. took the responsibility of monitoring for them, he could see everything holding strong.

“Would you look at that? You did it. What did I tell you?”

“Don’t ever make me do that again.”

“After I fix DUM-E, I promise I’ll make some backups, so you don’t have to do this again.”

“How about you don’t let it happen again? That sounds like a much better idea to me.”

“Do you really expect me to promise that when we don’t know what could happen in the future? What if someone worse than Hydra decides they want to try something? It’s better for my body to get destroyed than yours.”

“Let’s take a break from saving the world for a while.”

“Deal.” Even though neither of them could feel it, he reached up to press a kiss to Bucky’s face plate. “J needs to start the upload. We’ll pick this up later.”

“Don’t keep me waiting too long.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. You’ve been waiting long enough.”

Bucky brushed his hand through his bright blue holographic hair, then took a large step back from him. “We both have. See you when you wake up.”

“I expect you to be the first thing I see.”

“Promise.”

System Initializing…

14%

35%

63%

77%

89%

96%

99%

System Initialization Complete

 

Neural Upload Initializing…

9%

25%

43%

59%

74%

92%

99%

Neural Upload Complete

 

Synchronization Process Initializing…

3%

16%

28%

35%

49%

57%

66%

73%

84%

91%

99%

Synchronization Process Complete

 

System Status: Stable

 

Wake Up Protocol: Initiated

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)). You can find Beir on Tumblr ([Beir](https://beir.tumblr.com/)).


End file.
